


Then and now

by better_times_are_coming



Series: Kids These Days [3]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bullying, Domestic Fluff, Established Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Kid Fic, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-07-20 14:18:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 30,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16139003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/better_times_are_coming/pseuds/better_times_are_coming
Summary: Wonwoo gets adopted.





	1. Back then

Jeonghan remembered the first time he saw Wonwoo like it was yesterday.

He was twenty two, and he found himself standing awkwardly in the middle of the hallway of _The Angel House_ , a residence for orphans. Honestly he kept wondering _what the hell_ he was doing here, it was his first day of placement, and the therapist of the center had just gone off to attend an emergency, leaving him all alone in the reception.

Jeonghan thought he looked too out of place, surrounded with social workers and caretakers and only one psychologist. The building was an old one, small too.

This was the worst first day ever, and he was feeling more anxious by the minute with all the noise coming from upstairs, where the kids were supposed to be right now.

Okay, maybe he’d be okay. No need to fret, he hadn’t even started. He was staring down at his own shoes when he sensed the unmistakable feeling of someone staring at you. He slowly turned around as his eyes landed on that someone.

It was a boy, tall, worryingly thin under so many layers of clothing and maybe five or six? And he was staring at him, he was wearing some glasses with a thick black frame, and his fringe was too long, prickling at his eyes. Jeonghan knew that it couldn’t possibly be comfortable to have it like that.

He just _stood_ there, watching Jeonghan with a small curious expression, carrying something akin to a notebook in his hands.

“Um, hi?” Jeonghan had asked, at loss at what else to do, but immediately the boy had _ran_ back upstairs, probably into the bedroom.

Great start.

Later that day, when he was having lunch, Sojung, the caretaker on shift asked him how everything had been.

“Ah, you met Wonwoo.” She said with a knowing look. “He doesn’t really talk much, don’t try to coax him out of it, he doesn’t interact much with other children, even less with us.”

Jeonghan hummed in though, but he was _so_ tiny. How could he be already closed off? Well… these kids had been abandoned, they had every right to be mad and disappointed to the world they lived in.

“How long has he been here?” Jeonghan decided to ask, already dreading the answer. He didn’t miss the way Sojung placed her chopsticks down, with a sad expression on his face.

His heart skipped a beat as he waited.

“Since he was a baby.”

***

Jeonghan’s heart was beating fast in his chest as he drove, emotion cursing through him as they got closer to their destination. 

“I’m really nervous,” Seungcheol admitted, from the passenger seat, Jeonghan was driving the usual way he took to _The Angel House_ , heading to pick up Wonwoo.

They came here every Sunday to visit the children, but obviously… today was special.

Jeonghan tried to keep his eyes on the road, hands sweating as he held the steering wheel, he had to admit he was also quite nervous, but he didn’t want to freak out, because he would if he said something out loud.

“Maybe we should have let him know we were coming,” Seungcheol added anxiously, chewing on his lower lip. “I know we wanted it to be a surprise, but what if he—”

“Don’t worry, Cheol.” Jeonghan interrupted quietly, amazed by how calm his voice sounded. “Let’s… just, wait until we get there, okay?”

His eyes glanced at the ring on his finger, thinking about his _husband,_ it was still weird to call it that way, but he had to admit that even though they had their up and downs, they had settled so quickly and nothing had ever felt righter.

They had worked really hard for two years, enough to buy a house, enough to buy a car, enough to adopt Wonwoo after Jeonghan met him at _The Angel House_ during his placement.

They had grown a lot from that time, and Jeonghan had decided to tell Seungcheol he’d be adopting Wonwoo _with or without him_ , because he felt a connection to the boy, and he wanted to take care of him, he wanted him to have a chance.

Luckily Seungcheol had said yes, and Jeonghan had never been more relieved.

They were only twenty-four, but _hey_ people had babies at the same age, why couldn’t they adopt a seven-year-old?

His hands decided to leave the wheel for a second, only to extend it towards Seungcheol.

“We can do this.” He assured him, and when he looked back at Seungcheol, he felt a light squeeze on his hand.

“Yeah, we can.”

***

A month into his placement, Jeonghan found himself extremely frustrated with how he was doing.

Not with the children in general, but with Wonwoo.

Ever since he had heard his story he couldn’t keep the little boy out of his mind, and even though they had had some little interactions, the boy hadn’t even said a word to him.

Or even glance at his direction for more than three seconds.

“Jeonghan-ssi.” Sojung called, trying to get the smaller kids into his seats as they prepared for breakfast. “We’ve got to start already and Wonwoo’s still in his room. Can you come and get him, please?”

Jeonghan, ever the opportunist, immediately said yes.

He had been looking for a chance to talk to Wonwoo, and hopefully today he’d get lucky.

He entered into the room quietly, hoping not to disturb him, but when he noticed Wonwoo was nowhere to be seen, he got worried. There were rows of bunk beds, and a desk at each side, but no sight of Wonwoo. Jeonghan had never been in the second floor, where the bedrooms were, he had no idea if there was another space where the boy could be… besides he was so small.

What if something had happened to him?

Jeonghan was about to head back downstairs to ask Sojung where could Wonwoo be, when he felt the distinct sound of someone shifting, clothes rustling against hard surface.

Jeonghan blinked up, taking a deep breath and deciding to confirm his suspicions, he knelt down until his ear was pressing against the floor and looked under the beds.

There he was.

He cracked a small smile and got up, walking towards what he supposed was Wonwoo’s bunk and laid back down, next to the sleeping boy.

 _Why_ he was sleeping under the bed he had no idea, but now that he looked at him, he could see a book clutching in his hands.

It was a shame really, he didn’t want to wake him up, he knew he had to though, otherwise he’d go to school without breakfast.

“Wonwoo,” He called gently, refraining himself from reaching out and touch him. He had never done that and the boy didn’t seem tactile himself, so he didn’t want to cross any boundaries. “Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo shifted, scrunching up his nose, probably registering the noise and deciding to ignore it, and then hugging his book close, Jeonghan almost cooed out loud at how cute it was.

He still didn’t open his eyes though, well… not that Jeonghan could see much under that thick fringe anyway.

“Wonnie,” He called instead, and the boy’s eyes snapped open.

He didn’t know if it was because of the nickname or otherwise, but the boy shuffled until his eyes landed on Jeonghan and then he smiled gently, a missing tooth showing, Jeonghan swooned, trying to commit that expression to memory, sadly it was gone in a second.

What a shame, he looked so much childlike smiling.

“Hi.” Jeonghan said gently. “You need to get some breakfast, Wonnie.”

Wonwoo only hummed in response and hugged his book closer.

“Mind if I join you here?” He asked, and he was surprised when he got a small shake of his head in response. “Looks comfy.”

Jeonghan kept wondering what was Wonwoo doing under the bed, he seemed to be napping, but he was also holding a book to his chest.

“Can you read?” Jeonghan asked gently, the boy turned to look at him, through his glasses, Jeonghan resisted the urge to pull them out and clean them, even if it was only with the fabric of his shirt. They were so dirty, it must have been difficult to see clearly with those. He had wanted to ask if he could read right from the start, since he always kept carrying around that book. “I really like to read,” He commented when he didn’t get a reply, eyes on the mattress, since he noticed how shy Wonwoo got when he looked at him.

“Jeonghan-hyung,” He said in the smallest of voices, Jeonghan had to admit he felt warm all over. He had never heard his name coming from Wonwoo’s mouth. “I’m not dumb.” He whispered, as he were offended by the mere thought of it.

Funny thing was, he wasn’t even replying to the question, just seeming determined to show Jeonghan that he wasn’t dumb.

“I know you aren’t.” the _who told you that_ almost slipping out of his mouth, but luckily it didn’t. He didn’t want Wonwoo to think any of that. “Actually… it seems to me you’re quite the opposite, very smart.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Jeonghan assured him, smiling when Wonwoo’s eyes light up.

As Sojung called their names again so they’d come down for breakfast, Jeonghan tried not to think how happy Wonwoo looked that someone called him smart.

Like it was the first time he had heard it.

***

Jeonghan closed the door behind them, and after a two hour drive, the three of them found themselves inside the house.

There was a beat of silence and Seungcheol blushed bright red, feeling self-conscious about it.

What if it wasn’t what Wonwoo had expected? He surely had an idea about getting adopted, what if he realized he didn’t want _this_ after all, not with _them_ or what they had to offer.

He was sweating as he held Wonwoo’s suitcase, the only thing they had brought from _The Angel House_ apart from the bag he took to school, since he didn’t have anything else.

Seungcheol couldn’t help but worry.

Moreover, Wonwoo hadn’t really said anything in all the way back, hands clutching at his bag on his lap. Seungcheol had tried to make conversation a few times, but when he got no positive response, Jeonghan shook his head at him, signalling Seungcheol to give him some space instead.

He had been in the orphanage for seven years, he didn’t know someplace else.

It’d be hard to adjust at first, but Jeonghan and Seungcheol’d would be ready.

“Here we are,” Jeonghan said, when he noticed how stiff Seungcheol was and how tense he looked. Wonwoo’s eyes traveled around, his lips parting to let out a small unrestrained _oooh_ in amazement. It was adorable.

Jeonghan didn’t miss the way Seungcheol visibly relaxed at that, he was probably worried about the state of the house, but Wonwoo had been living with other boys all his life, Jeonghan was sure he’d appreciate having a room all to himself no matter how big or small it was.

Wonwoo took a small step forward and then seemed to remind his manners, turning around instead with a expecting look.

“Would you like us to join you? Or do you want to explore all by yourself?” Jeonghan asked, since Seungcheol hadn’t snapped out of it just yet.

“Can I go all by myself?” He asked, so quietly that Seungcheol almost missed it.

“Of course you can, Wonnie.” Jeonghan replied, smiling at him. “There are also four rooms in the second floor, the big one is ours, but you can pick the one you like the most of the other three.”

Wonwoo nodded obediently, eyes sparkling with excitement at the prospect of having his own room. Or getting to pick, Jeonghan didn’t know.

“Off you go.” He prompted gently, and Wonwoo nodded again, quickly as he showed them a small smile.

He didn’t put his bag down, only stared around until his eyes landed on the stairs and he started walking there. Both of them watched him go, and Seungcheol gingerly searched for Jeonghan’s hand to hold, squeezing gently.

It should be uncomfortable, since his hands kept sweating and he was still awkwardly holding Wonwoo’s suitcase, but Jeonghan didn’t mind, only held a little tighter.

Wonwoo had one feet on the first step of the stairs when he turned, chewing on his lower lip as if he had remembered something terribly important just now.

“Jeonghan-hyung, Seungcheol-hyung… is this for real?”

Their hold only tightened and Seungcheol could feel his eyes pricking with tears, maybe it wasn’t that Wonwoo didn’t like the house or the fact that he had been silent all the way until they got here, maybe he was just trying to convince himself this was actually happening.

Jeonghan licked his lips, trying not to let his voice waver.

“Yes, it is, baby.”

Wonwoo smiled, big and so happy that Jeonghan leaned his head on Seungcheol’s shoulder, suddenly exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster that had been today.

“Thank you!” He screamed from where he was running upstairs, Jeonghan let out a small wet laugh and Seungcheol kissed the top of his head, he didn’t remember feeling this happy in years.

And he was sure Jeonghan felt the same.

***

“Sojung-ssi, can I ask you a question?”

It was one of those quiet afternoons in _The Angel House_ , where the smaller kids were napping, the older ones working on their homeworks. Jeonghan had been transcribing into some records, part of the work that Sungmin-ssi had told him to do.

“Why isn’t Wonwoo in foster care?”

“He was in foster care,” She said absently, writing on some files herself. “But the family opted not to keep having him. They thought that maybe he had some cognitive issues, so they deemed themselves unfit to take care of him.”

Jeonghan frowned, _cognitive issues?_ What the hell?

“Yes, that was my reaction too…” Sojung sighed, Jeonghan decided he liked her even more. “He wasn’t doing well with school and he refused to speak sometimes, that’s what they said. We don't really talk about that.”

Which probably explained the _since he was a baby._

Wonwoo was less than five, how could someone reject him because of cognitive issues? It made him so mad.

Every kid deserved to have a house filled with love and support, no matter what. And even more, judging him because he didn’t _speak_ , when he was so little.

They never even gave him a chance.

He tried to get rid of the nagging feeling that meant Wonwoo had stayed with a family for a while and then having to leave because they had rejected him, how twisted was that.

“He’s… not going back to foster then?” He decided to ask, otherwise he’d call Seungcheol and talk about how mad he was for an hour or so.

“It’s unlikely.” She commented. “He’s old enough to enter the adoption system now, and until they’re five or six, it’s usually domestic. When they’re older than that… international adoption. But if he’s over eight and no one has adopted him, well… the statistics are against him.”

“Oh.”

“In those cases they usually stay in residences like this until they’re eighteen and they leave.”

Jeonghan almost regretted asking, feeling nauseous. He had met so many adorable, funny, smart little kids that his heart ached for all of them. He wished they’d all end up in good families that could give them all the love they deserved.

“Why did you want to know?” Sojung asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"I was just curious,” Jeonghan lied. “Thank you.”

***

A clothes shopping trip was a must.

He knew they should have done this weeks ago, even before Wonwoo arrived so he’d have some clothes to wear when he got home, but it had been an actual chaos and with toys and school supplies and paperwork, they just forgot.

Wonwoo looked like he hadn’t been in a mall in years, which was probably the case, but Jeonghan didn’t dare to ask, and clearly he wasn’t a big fan of crowds, because he kept clinging to Jeonghan’s side, holding his hand in a grip that was almost painful.

Taking that into account, Jeonghan decided to do this as fast and efficient as they could and get his boy home, so they could have dinner with Seungcheol when he arrived from work. 

They entered to one of the first stores they saw, with the way Wonwoo kept clinging onto him, Jeonghan doubted he could send him off to find something he liked, so instead he went around trying to find clothes in Wonwoo’s size, hoping to pick something he’d like.

He walked around, asking “This okay?” and Wonwoo would nod in response, he actually did so, to absolutely every piece of clothing he chose.

As they were preparing to leave, they had a full shopping cart filled with clothes, Jeonghan turned to Wonwoo again, he wasn’t staring at him though, his eyes were glued to a windbreaker, that literally looked like a pink and yellow highlighter.

It was horrible by Jeonghan’s standards, but Wonwoo seemed amazed, speechless even, and he had hardly seen him that interested in something they had seen today. Besides, it was the only moment of the day that he actually let go of Jeonghan’s hand to see something for himself. So he approached gently, not wanting to startle him.

“You like that?” He asked softly, pointing at it. He didn’t mean to be prejudiced or anything, but when he had seen Wonwoo in the orphanage he didn’t exactly look like the type of boy who would like so much colorful clothing, he actually thought that Wonwoo would hate stand out like that.

When he had met him, he kept hiding around to read or sometimes he sat there, trying not to take much of space.

Maybe he had thought wrong.

Wonwoo scrunched up his nose and looked up at Jeonghan with hopeful eyes, as if he was afraid to say yes.

“We can take it home if you want to,” He insisted, just because he hadn’t looked that excited for any other piece of clothing and—

Wait a second.

“Wonnie,” He started, growing suspicious as he looked between the shopping cart and the windbreaker. “By any chance… do you actually _like_ any of these?” He pointed down to the shopping cart, trying not to sound mad, because he wasn’t, he really wanted to know and he felt stupid for not asking properly.

Wonwoo chewed on his lower lip, looking down.

“I promise I won’t be mad if you tell me the truth… I just want you to pick something you like.” He told him gently and he managed to catch Wonwoo shaking his head.

Well done, Yoon Jeonghan.

Luckily they were only in the cart and he hadn’t bought them.

He picked up at the windbreaker, trying not to wince at the price, it costed almost like every piece of clothes he had picked _combined_ and even a little bit more. They were both doing quite okay financially, but arranging Wonwoo’s room had costed more than he thought and well, adopting in general meant a lot of expenses…

 _Still_ it was the only genuine smile he had gotten today, and Jeonghan’d work his ass off extra time if it meant seeing that smile again.

Their son deserved to have things he liked.

“Jeonghan-hyung,” He called gently, tugging at his sleeve, no _appa_ yet, but it was only normal and he hoped he could make it there eventually. “Can I wear it now?”

It was most definitely summer, certainly not an appropriate time for their seven year old to wear a windbreaker, but of course Jeonghan said yes.

And if people kept giving Wonwoo weird looks, he didn’t seem to care, only holding into Jeonghan’s hand as he babbled on and on about his favorite colors and how he’d come home and draw about today.

Jeonghan decided it was one of his favorite days with Wonwoo so far.

***

“Jeonghan, can I talk to you?”

As gently as he could, Jeonghan put down little Jiwon, who had been asking for piggybacks since she had seen Jeonghan playing around in the afternoons, after all the kids had come back from school.

He turned to see Im Sungmin, his supervisor. Jeonghan tried not to gulp, because since when _can I talk to you_ was a good thing, considering their schedule didn’t include a meeting to give him feedback today.

Three months had passed since he had come here and he still couldn’t believe how time went so surprisingly fast.

He sat down, hiding his hands under the table, because he didn’t want Sungmin to see him fiddling. He knew he could only wait for him to start talking, but he was freaking out already.

Had he done something wrong? Was it because he stayed after his designated hours to play with the kids? That couldn’t be so wrong, could it? He only wanted to help and he _liked_ the kids, he enjoyed spending time here, he really did, what else could he—

“This is about Wonwoo.” Sungmin announced and Jeonghan blinked up at him, not expecting that at all. And surely the surprise showed on his face, because Sungmin quickly added. “Ever since you started your placement I’ve noticed you’ve gotten close to him and honestly I’m impressed."

Jeonghan didn’t allow himself to relax just yet, because there was something in his supervisor’s tone that he didn’t like.

Out of context, the sentence should sound like a complement, but somehow it didn’t.

“Wonwoo is a closed off little boy, he’s sweet but also really shy. You’re the first person he’s opened up to, I’ve known him since he arrived and it’s the first time I can see someone getting close to him… and well, Wonwoo accepting them back too.”

Jeonghan’s heart started to beat faster, his hands sweating against the fabric of his jeans.

Any moment now.

“I strongly suggest for you to stop.” He announced and Jeonghan tried really hard not to say something that would get him into trouble later. “You only have a few months left. Which means that you’ll be gone soon, and you have to think what’s best for him, what if he gets too attached to you and then you have to leave? How will _you_ feel about that too?”

Jeonghan understood what he was asking. Is it best for him to have one valuable bond that will go away or none?

He didn’t exactly know either.

Besides… he had thought about it too, what if he left? Could he just stop seeing Wonwoo everyday?

Probably not.

“He has had failed bonds during all his life. You really want to become another one?”

There was a lot Jeonghan thought he could say, but he could only look down and shut his mouth.

***

The only problem about having a quiet child was that sometimes Jeonghan worried that he might have lost Wonwoo inside the house.

If he had seen Wonwoo nap around before, he also liked reading or drawing around different places of the house and he barely made some noise.

He was freaking out and about to call Seungcheol, until he found Wonwoo in their bedroom, holding the book that Jeonghan recognized as the one he had on his nightstand.

He sighed in relief.

Certainly _playing and reality_ sounded like something that should concern to a seven year old, but it wasn’t exactly literature, and not appropriate for his age.

“That’s a bit difficult for you, baby.” Jeonghan commented lightly, as he entered the room. Wonwoo had a fragile concept about his intelligence, and by no means Jeonghan wanted to offend him. Or make him stop reading. “But I’ve got other books more appropriate for you.“

Luckily they had gotten gifts from their friends and family, and that included enough books for Wonwoo to have a mini library in his room. Jeonghan decided house chores had to be forgotten and he sent Wonwoo off to his room to find a book he’d like and Jeonghan would read to him.

Wonwoo could perfectly read all by himself, but there was something about the idea of doing this for their boy that he thought Wonwoo would appreciate it.

Once they had already settled, Wonwoo leaning against his side and Jeonghan putting on his specs, Jeonghan felt a small tug on his sleeve.

“Do you want to adopt other children?” Wonwoo asked in a whisper.

Jeonghan hummed in thought, Wonwoo was definitely a smart one. They had talked with Seungcheol about choosing a smaller house, but in the end they had chosen this one and it had more rooms they could need at the moment.

Surely Jeonghan would like a library and Seungcheol a room exclusively to play videogames, but the other rooms were empty, because they hadn’t had enough money to buy more furniture and they figured that they’d decide what to do with them later.

And one of the options was certainly that.

“Maybe, yeah, in a few years.” Jeonghan replied gently, pulling Wonwoo even closer, the boy giggled in return, being ticklish around his middle.

Wonwoo didn’t press the matter any further and Jeonghan decided to start reading to him instead. But as the story advanced, he couldn’t help but notice how Wonwoo kept squinting at the text. Right. Jeonghan slowly took his glasses away from his eyes, examining them, now that he saw them up close he could see how the crystal was chapped and the surface was smudgy.

“Does it hurt to see with these?” He asked gently and Wonwoo nodded, sheepishly. At least he had glasses but they had to take kids to an ophthalmologist once a year, and if Jeonghan remembered correctly, he had always seen Wonwoo with the same pair. “Okay, we’ll go to the eye doctor next week, he should give us a receipt to get some new ones.”

Wonwoo’s eyes traveled to the book, even though Jeonghan had been reading so far, he was holding it too, tightly and now he look disappointed, as if—

Oh right.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t read.” Jeonghan explained quickly and Wonwoo _smiled_ , actually did. Jeonghan could cry. “I’ll read to you, okay? You can even close your eyes and picture the story better.”

Wonwoo mumbled a small _okay_ and cuddled closer to Jeonghan, closing his eyes.

Jeonghan ruffled his hair gently and wrapped an arm around him, it was awkward to hold the book with one hand, but Wonwoo didn’t let himself be held on most days, and he loved how cuddly he was today.

Already settled, Jeonghan started reading again.

When Seungcheol made it home that day, it was already dark outside and he found Jeonghan and Wonwoo napping together, a book draped between them.

He smiled at their sleeping forms, how comfortable they looked and how peaceful.

As gently as he could and without making any noise, he draped a blanket over them, turning off the lights and letting them sleep.

***

Jihoon and Cheol’s shared dorm was gross.

There was no other way to put it.

It was even messier considering the end of the semester was coming and Jihoon hardly ever spent the night here, working in the studio instead. And well… Seungcheol had never been known to clean his working (or living) space.

Specially when his only _moment of peace_ as he liked to call it was to play some Overwatch or something, Jeonghan wasn’t entirely sure.

The sound of the game was the only thing filling the room when Jeonghan made his way inside, dodging a pizza box in the middle of the hallway.

“Hi, baby.” Seungcheol said pleasantly, looking soft in his big oversized hoodie and tousled hair, and even softer when he leaned in and pressed a kiss against Jeonghan’s lips as he sat next to him.

“Cheol… there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” Jeonghan started, going at it immediately, otherwise he’d chicken out.

“If this is about the mess, Jeonghannie, I swear I’ll start tomorrow, Mingyu even said he’d help me with—”

“It isn’t.” Jeonghan interrupted quickly. “Although I’m glad, I could barely walk in here.”

Seungcheol only hummed in response, eyes fixed on the screen.

“There’s this kid…” Jeonghan started, bracing himself, but he couldn’t, because Seungcheol interrupted him.

“Wonwoo?” Seungcheol asked, eyes fixed on the screen. “Yeah, you’ve mentioned him, babe.”

While Jeonghan was glad that Seungcheol was actually paying attention to the things he said, he was also getting annoyed by his boyfriend eyes’ glued to a screen while he was trying to talk about something important.

“ _Cheol_ , can you just _stop—_ ” He snapped and immediately he got a _sorry_ _babe_ in response, Seungcheol pausing the game and turning his full attention towards him.

 _Now_ Jeonghan got worried, and fidgety. He shifted so they were sitting cross legged in front of each other, heart beating fast as he dared to ask the next question.

“Have you… ever thought about having kids?”

“Like… with you? Because it’s not possible, Hannie, although I agree that we can keep trying—”

“Very funny.” Jeonghan said dryly, not missing the way Seungcheol’s smile faded when he noticed how tense he sounded.

“Aren’t we too young to be thinking about kids?”

Jeonghan’s heart sank, wondering if this wouldn’t go accordingly as he had thought of first.

“Maybe,” He conceded, trying not to show his disappointment. He’s had the same doubts since the idea started forming in his head but now voicing it out loud felt even more real. And scary. “Just… just answer the question, Cheol.”

“I’d like to have a family, I guess… I’m not sure if I’d be a good dad though.” He commented honestly, but Jeonghan’s expression didn’t change, his brows were furrowed and he looked like he was thinking. Hard.

Seungcheol was about to say something cheesy about who had put such a worried expression on his angel’s face, but he didn’t, not when Jeonghan looked so troubled.

“And… what do you think about the future?” He continued, voice uncertain.

It sounded so far from how Jeonghan usually talked.

“I only know I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Seungcheol replied, and he was shocked not to get a joke on reply about how cheesy he was.

That was enough proof to know that there was something was going on.

“Jeonghannie,” Seungcheol started, eyes fixed on him and Jeonghan dreaded his next words, because he was sure he had been caught. “What is this really about?”

Damn him, was it too obvious?

“Don’t freak out.” Jeonghan asked, covering his face. “But... I was thinking that I could adopt him. Wonwoo.”

Seungcheol went silent, and suddenly Jeonghan missed the sounds of the stupid game to fill in the room. Was he still breathing after telling him that?

“Wouldn’t… okay, a lot of things come to mind, but don’t you need to be married for that? Can people our age even adopt?” Seungcheol asked. “And money, and a house probably.”

“Are you implying you _wouldn’t_ marry me if I asked?” Jeonghan teased, a humorlessly smile on his lips,even though his heart was actually threatening to burst from his chest.

Against all expectations, Seungcheol went silent _again_ , blinking up at him.

“Jeonghannie,” Seungcheol started patiently, sounding condescending and Jeonghan hated his tone.

Luckily Seungcheol’s phone started ringing somewhere in the room and it served as a distraction, but Jeonghan didn’t feel any better.

He had hoped that he’d jokingly say something along the lines of _marry me_ and Seungcheol would have turned all cheesy and said of course he would.

Not this.

“It’s work, I’ve got to pick this up.” Seungcheol said, when he found his phone, he kept staring at Jeonghan with an apologetic expression and he really _hated it_. “But… we’ll talk about it, okay? Let’s talk about this later.”

It sounded like it was open to discussion but at the same time it didn’t.

Jeonghan wished he’d never had brought it up.

***

Midnight snacks always meant trying to find the damn fruity cereal Jeonghan would nag him about every morning since he was like fifteen, but Seungcheol didn’t care, he was exhausted, he needed to finish the damn report and, he couldn’t find the _damn_ cereal, where the hell—

“Hyung.” He heard from behind and Seungcheol hissed a curse, dropping the spoon (luckily not the bowl) to the floor.

Shit, he didn’t forget they had a kid at home now, but he _really_ shouldn’t sneak up on him at two in the morning.

That was some scary movie kind of thing.

“Hi, Wonnie!” He called, placing a hand on his chest, to calm his rapidly beating heart. He bent down to pick up the spoon, splashing some water in it to clean it and put it back into the bowl. “You startled me.”

Seungcheol had really wanted to spend more time with him, but he hadn’t been able to, due to his workload.  His boss had only given him a week off while Wonwoo settled, and Jeonghan at least asked for his vacations so he could be here, but every night Seungcheol would arrive and Wonwoo was already asleep.

It was a shame and Seungcheol was disappointed, only being able to spend time with them fully on weekends.

He didn’t even help Jeonghan shopping clothes with him.

“Can’t sleep?” Seungcheol asked gently and he got a small nod in reply. His eyes flickered from the boy standing in front of him and the light coming from his laptop, on the coffee table. “Oh, sorry, was I making too much noise?”

Wonwoo immediately raised his hands in innocence, shaking his head.

“No, no,” Seungcheol blinked up at him, noticing how unaccustomed he was at the sound of Wonwoo’s voice. He really needed to ask for another week off, he wanted to see him everyday for more than an hour. “I just… school,” Wonwoo whispered as if that explained it all.

It did, actually.

“Um, yeah,” Seungcheol nodded, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, buddy. We wish you could have stayed in your old school, but Jeonghannie’s work is on the opposite direction, and he takes the car, I have to be up early and I don’t manage to get to your school with you by bus.”

Wonwoo noticed what he had just said and bit his lower lip.

“I’m not complaining— I’m sorry, it wasn’t like that.” Wonwoo assured him in a whisper.

Seungcheol took a deep breath, a smile appearing on his lips.

“I know it wasn’t, I’m not mad.” He assured him, reaching out, Wonwoo leaned closer for comfort, allowing Seungcheol to place a hand on his head and ruffle his hair.

It was thrilling that he was able to.

“Do you want to talk about what’s worrying you?” Seungcheol asked gently, Wonwoo pulled back just enough to answer and shook his head.

Fair enough.

“Can I watch you work, hyung?” Wonwoo asked, pointing at his computer. Seungcheol should probably say no, it was late and he should be in bed, but he was also wide awake and worried, Seungcheol didn’t want him to be alone.

“Of course.” Cereal long forgotten, Seungcheol settled with Wonwoo on the couch, closing all the tabs he wasn’t using and deciding to get some actual work done, so he’d finish soon and could tuck Wonwoo into bed.

He was just closing the youtube tab when Wonwoo’s eyes literally sparked up at a promotional video of the new Mario Kart game.

Seungcheol slowly turned towards him, he knew Wonwoo liked drawing and reading, but it had never occurred him to ask if he liked _videogames._

“You like Mario Kart?” Seungcheol tried.

Wonwoo’s eyes literally sparked up and he nodded, smiling to Seungcheol for the first time _ever_ since he had gotten here and he could cry.

“Don’t tell Jeonghannie we stayed up this late,” He shushed him. “Want to play some online?”

Seungcheol had never seen Wonwoo that excited and he thought he was an idiot for not asking before.

Who _didn’t_ like Mario Kart?

***

The first time Seungcheol visited _The Angel House_ , was after a long night conversation he had with Jeonghan.

He decided he didn’t want to know about marriage, or adoption, not just yet. And Jeonghan agreed that he had been too fast to shove those subjects to Seungcheol.

So they settled on Seungcheol visiting the residence on a Sunday, to meet the kids, especially Wonwoo.

It seemed like a good idea, then _why_ was he so nervous? They were only children, usually they liked him.

“Hi everyone.” Jeonghan greeted as all the kids had come to play outside, enjoying a warm sunny afternoon. He pointed a very shy looking Seungcheol as the children made a collective _oohh_ in acknowledgement. “This is my friend, Seungcheol.”

Seungcheol gave a small awkward bow at them and decided to say hello to each one. It wasn’t hard to tell Wonwoo apart, since he was clinging onto Jeonghan’s hand at the moment he saw him arrive with him.

Wonwoo looked somehow jealous of him and Seungcheol couldn’t really blame him, he knew what it was like to be Jeonghan’s favorite person, it was certainly flattering.

Still, Seungcheol waited until the very end, when the other kids had scurried off to play to turn to look at Wonwoo.

“Wonwoo-yah, Jeonghan has told me all about you,” Seungcheol announced cheerfully, kneeling down to be at his eye level.

Wonwoo stared at him for full three seconds, then looked up at Jeonghan, then back at Seungcheol and he _ran_ inside.

Jeonghan snickered as he watched him leave, Seungcheol pouting at his side.

“He’ll warm up to you.”

***

“Hannie, promise me you won’t be mad.”

There was silence at the other line.

Seungcheol didn’t know what was scarier… and angry Jeonghan in person or angry Jeonghan over the phone.

Right now he didn’t want to find out.

“Seungcheol,” When it was his full name he knew it meant trouble. “What did you do.”

Seungcheol almost whined, pouting over the phone even though Jeonghan couldn’t see him.

“Turns out Wonnie likes videogames, just like me!” He said cheerfully, but there was still silence at the other side of the line.

He kept going, he was probably dead anyway.

“IboughtaPS4.”

“You—what? Cheol, I can’t hear you if you—”

“I bought a PS4.”

“Cheol, we already have so much expenses this month, tell me you didn’t spend a lot in it.” Jeonghan sighed and Seungcheol’s smile faded.

“But Jihoonie and Soonyoung told me they could split the cost and we could give it to Wonwoo as a present for…” He trailed off, realizing as he spoke. “Sorry, I should have talked to you first.”

Jeonghan took a deep breath, but what could he say? He had done the same with the windbreaker.

“I’m sorry,” Seungcheol repeated. “Are you mad?”

He waited. One, two, five seconds.

“No, I’m not mad.” Jeonghan replied and he could hear the sigh that left Seungcheol’s lips. “We can talk about it here, I promise I’m not mad. Drive safe, okay?”

“Okay!” Seungcheol said, more cheerfully. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

***

 _"_ If… _if_ we decided to do it. How could we?” Seungcheol had asked.

Jeonghan stood in front of him, adoption forms he had taken from _The Angel House_ clutching against his chest. He had been reading them, and even though they hadn’t had _the_ conversation again just yet, they both knew it was going to happen eventually.

Jeonghan was already too attached.

“I was planning to apply to that insurance company, I have the contact already. They know me.”

“Professor Lee,” Seungcheol suddenly realized. “But baby, you hate it there, you said it yourself.”

“I didn’t say I hated it there… I’d rather someplace else.” Jeonghan said weakly, trying not to waver against Seungcheol’s defensive stance, he knew that he didn’t exactly approve of him working in something he didn’t like. “But the thing is… the pay is good, great even. I could find a decent place to live _and_ pay for the adoption fee and maybe even get a car in a year or two. Cheol, I really want to do this.”

Seungcheol fell silent, they were really having _the_ conversation now, there was no backing down from this.

“I’ll understand if you want to leave, but I _have_ to do this— I —”

As soon as Jeonghan’s voice broke, Seungcheol was there in a second, and even though Jeonghan seemed angry and sad and generally upset, he let himself be held.

“I understand.” Seungcheol whispered, squeezing him tight.

“You _don't_.” Jeonghan mumbled, voice muffled against Seungcheol’s shoulder. “You can’t possibly understand how much I care for him, and how much I love _you_ , and I’m not ready to lose you, but I really need to do this— I don’t want you to say yes because you love me, I want you to want this too, but it’s _so_ selfish of me to ask you to stand by my side while I—”

“Jeonghan-ah.” He interrupted gently, pulling him closer.

" _W_ _hat._ ”

“Marry me.”

Jeonghan stiffened against him, and Seungcheol was actually freaking out on the inside, was it not the right time? He had been thinking about it lately, even bought a ring. And he did want a romantic dinner and hopefully a trip to do it, but doing it now it felt righter.

“If you’re doing this because I—”

“I’m not. This isn’t because of the adoption.” He said gently, because they both knew it was a requirement for them to be married. “This is about you, and how much I love you and how much I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and have a family and grow old together. When you told me the idea, I thought… _not yet_ , but never no, Jeonghannie.”

Jeonghan sniffled pitifully from his perch on Seungcheol’s shoulder, and Seungcheol thought he couldn’t bear to have this conversation without looking him into his eyes.

He pulled back enough to tilt Jeonghan’s chin up, his own eyes pricking with tears when their eyes met. There was snot on his nose and lip and he was all red from crying, shaking all over.

_God he loved him so much._

“I’ve never _ever_ doubted how much I want to be with you.” Seungcheol said, his voice wavering from restrained emotion. “I want this too. A family, a house, I love _you_ , Yoon Jeonghan, how could you ever think I would choose to live a life without you?”

Jeonghan choked on his tears, trying to look down, but Seungcheol didn’t let him, instead he gently wiped the tears on his face with his sleeve, and in the end, his snot covered lip, pressing a firm kiss there, sealing their promise.

“You haven’t even said yes.” Seungcheol whined when Jeonghan chased his lips to kiss him again.

He could swear that hearing Jeonghan’s laugh after he had been crying was one of the most beautiful sounds that Seungcheol had ever heard.

“You’re right.” Jeonghan conceded, wrapping his arms around Seungcheol’s neck instead of his waist. He smiled cheekily as he leaned in to press a kiss against Seungcheol’s cheek, then his temple, and his nose. And a last one, on the corner of his lips, when Seungcheol sighed in relief, lips parting, Jeonghan let out a _yes_ as Seungcheol couldn’t help it anymore and pulled him to a proper kiss.

If there was a turning point in his life, it was definitely this one.

***

“Why me?” Wonwoo asked one night, as Seungcheol and Jeonghan tucked him into bed.

It had been a month since the adoption. And he was slowly adjusting, they’d see him smile even more everyday and even though school had a rough start, Wonwoo seemed happier than ever.

“What do you mean, baby?” Jeonghan asked gently, fixing his fringe, he had been meaning to ask if it didn’t bother him and wanted to cut it, but he figured Wonwoo had enough changes lately for a lifetime.

Maybe in a week or two.

“You picked me.” Wonwoo mumbled, looking down. “Why me? Eunbi’s nice, everyone liked her and Yuna too, she can play football and she’s smart. I’m only… me, no one ever liked me.”

Seungcheol’s heart sank at the sight of Wonwoo genuinely asking them _why_ they had picked him, he wished the boy could see how much they love him. But he knew it’d take time and that Wonwoo would trust them eventually.

“You know what, Wonnie.” Seungcheol said gently, when he noticed Jeonghan’s eyes start to prickle with tears, his breath getting a little ragged. “I’ll tell you a little secret.”

Usually it was Seungcheol who cried the most, but right now Jeonghan couldn’t help himself.

This was exactly _why_.

The fact that he thought that no one would ever want him, and he was so _special_ and funny and kind.

“Jeonghannie knew he wanted you from the start.” Seungcheol assured him, reaching out to hold Wonwoo’s hand.

At their side, Jeonghan sniffled and Seungcheol decided to reach out to hold his hand too. Wonwoo looked up at Jeonghan curiously, probably never seeing him crying before.

“On his first day in _The Angel House_ , his last year in University,” Seungcheol explained, when Wonwoo frowned gently. “He came home that day and told me he had met you. And I remembered he said that he hoped you’d like him, because he really wanted to make you smile, at least one time before he had to leave and graduate.”

Wonwoo parted his lips, looking from Seungcheol to Jeonghan, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“I did,” Wonwoo whispered, conspiratorially.

Jeonghan couldn’t help but to laugh at that, happiness bubbling into his chest.

“Yes, you did, baby.” Jeonghan agreed, cleaning the tears with his sleeve.

“More than once!” Wonwoo assured Seungcheol, tugging on his sleeve, and Jeonghan swore that this was one of the times he looked actually animated.

“Wow, you must have really liked each other,” Seungcheol nodded at him and Wonwoo kept his mouth open, speechless, he looked utterly adorable with half of the fringe covering his baby face. “He told me he read with you too. He doesn’t even read to me.” He added with a whine and, unexpectedly, Wonwoo let out a small laugh, scrunching up his nose and everything.

Seungcheol wished he had a camera to save that moment.

“We both wanted you, still do. We _chose_ you, Wonwoo.” Seungcheol continued. “We love you, so much.”

Wonwoo squeezed both of their hands, looking down as tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

“Thank you.” He whispered. “I love you too.”

***

Weekends in _The Angel House_ sometimes meant volunteers or families visiting the children. Sometimes other organizations.

Today, it was a quiet Sunday, with only Seungcheol and Jeonghan accompanying the kids.

Seungcheol thought that it’d be stressful for Jeonghan to be here from Monday to Friday during his placement, _and_ coming on Sundays too, but he seemed delighted to share with the kids.

They had brought a few toys and activities and Jeonghan was currently inside with a small group of children, painting something.

The rest were resting after playing football and Wonwoo had decided he didn’t like the activities and just laid down to nap. Seungcheol had been picking up the cones they had used to mark off the improvised field and Wonwoo kept following him around like a little duck.

It was endearing.

“Seungcheol-hyung.”

“Yeah, bud?”

“Why are you here all the time?”

He was hardly here all the time, only on Sundays, but he guessed he also meant Jeonghan who came by every day.

“Well… because we like you, all of you. We like to spend time with you and play.” Seungcheol replied, dropping all the cones in a small pile, so he could go and put them back later.

Wonwoo looked down, disappointment showing on his face. He even stopped walking behind him, just stood there, chewing on his lip.

“Do you like it when we come?” Seungcheol asked, as he approached back to him.

“Yeah.” He whispered.

“Wonnie, is everything okay?” Seungcheol really didn’t want him to close off, so he was more than relieved when the boy placed his hands against his eyes, fighting off tears. Ah, Seungcheol had been such an idiot, he knew what he had done wrong. “You want to hear a little secret?”

Wonwoo kept frantically cleaning his tears, making a mess of himself. Seungcheol was sure that Jeonghan had told him he’d never see him cry before.

Of course he felt bad when he said they came here because they liked all the children (although they did), poor Wonwoo.

“I like you the most.” Seungcheol whispered.

The little genuine smile he got in reply was worth everything to him.

Wonwoo hiccuped, voice wavering when he whispered:

“I like you too.”

***

“You hear noise?” Jeonghan mumbled against the pillow.

“Must be the wind.” Seungcheol assured him, pulling him closer, willing to go back to sleep.

There was no reason to worry, they had locked all the doors, the stove was off, the—

Wait a second, Wonwoo.

Both sat up at the speed of light, remembering the same thing.

“You have to start wearing pyjamas, Cheol. We’ve got a kid now.” Jeonghan scolded, and he only got a pout in response. He turned on the lights, so Seungcheol wouldn’t trip on anything as they went to Wonwoo’s room. “What if he needs something in the middle of the night and he comes inside unexpectedly?”

“But I get so hot and it’s uncomfortable,” He whined, like a child, as he almost tripped over his own feet anyway and put on some pyjama bottoms, he also pulled on a discarded hoodie and started walking as Jeonghan ushered him outside their bedroom and towards Wonwoo’s.

What they found was something they hadn’t seen before.

A closed door, not locked, they didn’t have any, but their kid deserved privacy, so even though the scrambling noise was worrying, Jeonghan still knocked and asked.

“Wonnie, can we come in?” 

“Are you okay?” Seungcheol asked, right on succession.

“It’s just…” Wonwoo started, sounding unsure and scared. “Can you promise you won’t be mad?”

If Jeonghan could be even more worried he was now.

“We won’t, we promise.” He answered for both of them. Only a few seconds passed until Wonwoo opened the door and Jeonghan cupped his cheeks, checking he wasn’t hurt anywhere. He was so relieved that he had opened almost right away, it showed that at least he trusted them enough for that.

“I tried to clean it off… but it didn’t…” Wonwoo trailed off, clearly too embarrassed to continue. Seungcheol frowned, eyes traveling around the room until they landed on Wonwoo’s bed.

There was a distinct wet patch on the sheets that made Jeonghan sigh in relief, he thought something bad had happened, he was so glad it had only been this.

“Everyone has accidents sometimes, Wonnie.” Seungcheol offered gently, reaching out to ruffle his hair, he was glad when he didn’t pull back, but he did stiffen, worry still etched into his features.

Their poor little boy, surely the other kids would tease him if this happened back then, having lived in shared rooms all his life it must have been difficult. Besides, Wonwoo had already changed into new pyjamas and it made Seungcheol think at the back of his mind, if this had happened to him before.

Not only in _The Angel House_ , but in here.

“I’ll clean this up, okay?” Jeonghan said softly. “If something like this happens again, you can wake up us, and we’ll help. You don’t need to do this all by yourself.”

Wonwoo couldn’t be redder, covering his face with his hands.

“It’s the first time it happens… since last year.” Wonwoo whispered, as Jeonghan went to the bathroom to find something to clean, Seungcheol tried to distract him, pinching his cheek gently until he got his attention.

“You forgot your socks, baby.” Seungcheol commented softly, pointing down. “Aren’t you cold?”

Wonwoo nodded slowly, and Seungcheol felt brave enough to open his arms in invitation. They had never hugged before, just during games and sports sometimes, but never deliberately a hug.

He saw the hesitance in his stance but then Wonwoo all but threw himself at him, wrapping arms and legs around Seungcheol.

Seungcheol easily picked him up, he was tall, but he was thin and he fit so nicely against him. He rubbed his back comfortingly, feeling Wonwoo yawning against his shoulder.

Jeonghan came back, cooing at them and signaled for them to head to the room, he kind of wanted to cuddle too, but if they didn’t clean this now it’d be harder to do it tomorrow.

“That’s right, come on. To bed.” Seungcheol nodded at his husband and went to their bedroom, placing Wonwoo in the middle of the bed.

They had never slept together as a family and it was new and comforting in a way that Seungcheol didn’t notice he craved.

Jeonghan arrived a few minutes later, getting under the covers at the other side. Wonwoo was already dozing off between them, and as soon as he felt surrounded by warmth from both sides, he shuffled closer, wrapping an arm around Seungcheol’s waist and leaning back into Jeonghan’s chest.

They had never slept more peacefully than that night.

***

He had only managed to put his bag into his locker, when he heard footsteps coming his way.

“Jeonghan-ssi.” Sojung called, his tone urgent and worried, and Jeonghan couldn’t help the panic that started to settle in his stomach. “I know we won’t have you here forever, but Wonwoo is very upset right now and I tried to calm him down, but he only listens to you—”

Jeonghan nodded quickly.

“Don’t worry, Sojung-ssi. I can help, you’ve got a lot to handle, I’ll check on him.”

He headed upstairs with the sentence _we won’t have you here forever_ playing in his head. He only had one month left in _The Angel House_ and it seemed like yesterday when he had arrived here first, and his life had changed so much… he’d marry Cheol next year, in their trip to LA.

And they were already saving money, looking for places to live, it was going up so fast…

He tried not to get too overwhelmed by all of it and easily found Wonwoo, sitting up in his bed, paper and pencils scattered all around.

As he approached and sat close (in the same bed, but as far as he could to avoid disturbing him) he noticed how Wonwoo seemed exhausted, eyes red from crying and rosy cheeks. He’d have thought he had a fever if he didn’t know best.

“What happened, Wonnie?” He asked, knowing how the nickname would always lift his spirits.

Wonwoo chewed on his lower lip, refusing to reply right away. Jeonghan looked down at the drawings and figured he might have an idea.

“By any chance…” He started, knowing he could be treading water with it. “Did they make you draw something in school?”

“Friends and family.” Wonwoo mumbled, confirming his suspicions. His eyes were glued to the blank crumpled paper and Jeonghan wanted nothing more than to reach out and hug him.

That must have hurt for an orphan, poor baby. Jeonghan’s heart ached for him. He was only five, almost six, and he had endured so much…

“Wonnie, can I be your friend?” Jeonghan asked gently, extending his pinky towards him, this was the first time they actually talked about their relationship, what they meant to each other out loud.

Wonwoo kept his eyes fixed on his lap, and when Jeonghan thought he wouldn’t reply, he slowly shook his head and Jeonghan _tried_ not to feel entirely too discouraged by that.

Fuck that hurt.

“Jeonghan-hyung,” Wonwoo mumbled, a few seconds later.

“Yeah, sweetie?”

“Would it be okay… if I drew you here?” He pointed at another piece of paper that Jeonghan hadn’t seen, that had three figures, two adults and a child, but it had been painted over, almost as if an afterthought. “Like… being part of my family?” He asked shyly.

Jeonghan had to look down to try and stop the tears, his chest hurting from all the emotions that had happened in like a minute.

Wonwoo had drew them. As part of his family and then probably erased them, when he noticed he “shouldn’t". God, his heart was about to burst, he wanted to hug Wonwoo and tell Cheol and _cry_.

“Seungcheol-hyung too.” Wonwoo added quietly, cheeks burning.

Jeonghan sat a little closer to him, hands shaking as he cupped his cheek gently.

“I’d be honored to be part of your family, Wonnie. Cheol would be too. Nothing would make us happier.”

In the end he did cry, and Wonwoo made two drawings, one to take to school tomorrow and the other one so Jeonghan would stick in their fridge.

Only three stick figures, holding hands and with silly clothes and weird hair, but it was Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s most precious possession until this day.

***

“Cheol.” Jeonghan whispered, once he was sure Wonwoo was asleep between them.

He was so used to being big spoon with Seungcheol, that he had totally forgotten how it felt to sleep with another person apart from his partner.

Wonwoo actually liked to cuddle. And sleep with them, but he got really shy to ask, so Jeonghan and Seungcheol had decided to ask him instead, and today it was one of the nights he had said yes.

“Yeah, babe?”

“We made the right choice.”

Seungcheol looked at the sleeping boy between them, feeling a strong urge to protect him, he loved him so much already. And Jeonghan even from before.

They’d make sure he’d be happy and healthy, Seungcheol closed his eyes, pulling the boy closer to his chest and reaching out to hold Jeonghan’s hand.

“We did.”


	2. Now

Jeonghan and Seungcheol got calls from school all the time.

Chan? Two or three times a week (he was struggling with the whole nursery concept and Jeonghan didn’t want to imagine what would happen with kindergarten next year).

Seungkwan? Every time he tried to show off his singing skills during class (and when he got too sassy with classmates and/or teachers). He was only nine but he was certainly a handful in that matter, although they had to admit, both Jeonghan and Seungcheol had a soft spot for his antics so they couldn’t reprimand him too harshly for them. 

Wonwoo? Never. 

If it was nursery, Seungcheol’d handle it, considering his work was nearby and he could go by, try to calm down Chan, or else, he’d drop him to Jihoon’s or Mingyu’s (or whoever was available, really), in case he was too busy and couldn’t take care of him himself.

Most of the times he’d take him to work, carry him around a few minutes and then he’d nap until Seungcheol was done.

With Seungkwan, Jeonghan knew he would have to wait until the end of his shift and _then_ he could pick him up, talk to the teacher and handle it. Their boy could be a pain in the ass sometimes but he was also the sweetest and most charismatic, he would always find a way out of a difficult situation.

But in the five years since they had adopted Wonwoo, they had never _ever_ gotten a call from school because of him.

Jeonghan couldn’t say he was mentally prepared for when it came.

***

“First days are hard, huh?”

“Not really.”

“It’s a new school, so it’s okay to be nervous.”

“I’m not.”

Jeonghan and Seungcheol exchanged worried looks, Wonwoo stood between them, school bag on his shoulders, hair disheveled (they hadn’t cut it yet, but Jeonghan had spent a good part of the morning combing it, which clearly hadn’t worked) and uniform looking a bit too loose on his thin frame. 

“Then Wonnie… why won’t you go inside?” Jeonghan asked softly, kneeling and squeezing his hand.

Today had been chaotic. Between getting all the school supplies in the backpack and then packing up lunch, and then writing a note to school saying his kid was allergic to seafood and then Wonwoo regretting the book he had chosen last night and now wanting to bring _a_ _nother_ one to school.

Both Seungcheol and Jeonghan were surprised that they could make it in time.

Although they were on time to drop him off, it was getting late, because they had been saying goodbye for more than fifteen minutes ago, when Jeonghan and Seungcheol decided to intervene, trying to find out what was wrong.

They thought that maybe he could miss his old school or something like that, but apparently it wasn’t.

And it was almost eight am and the boy wouldn’t let go of their hands.

Wonwoo chewed on his lower lip, looking from Jeonghan to Seungcheol. He looked so _tiny_ in his new uniform and Seungcheol really wanted to take him into his arms, into the car and go back home, because he looked _terrified_.

Seungcheol never wanted to see that expression on his face.

Maybe he didn’t need to go to school, like _ever_?

It had been two months and a few weeks since Wonwoo had been adopted, and Seungcheol couldn’t say he was ready to stop seeing him everyday (not like he saw him _all_ day, but at least he was there when he got home).

Sure, his work allowed him to have a few days off from time to time, but still didn’t mean that his boss liked him enough to do so—

Kids kept walking around with their parents and Seungcheol snapped out of his thoughts, going back to reality. It was late, but Wonwoo kept fiddling, looking down and shifting uncomfortably on his spot.

“What is it, baby? You can tell us.” Seungcheol prompted gently, kneeling down as well, to look into his eyes. It was weird that he hadn’t replied the first time, but both of them wouldn’t leave before knowing what was wrong, they wanted to help.

“It’s stupid.” Wonwoo mumbled.

At his side, Jeonghan almost flinched, and Seungcheol knew exactly why. They both had been trying to stop Wonwoo using those deprecatory words when he was talking about himself, but Seungcheol also knew that it was probably a process and Wonwoo needed to be reassured about sharing his fears and thoughts with them. 

“I’m sure it’s not, Wonnie. If it worries you, then it concerns us too.” Jeonghan commented and Seungcheol nodded in encouragement.

Both of them waited patiently and Wonwoo finally looked up, eyes fixing on them.

“You’re not going to leave me here, are you?” Wonwoo said, so quietly as if he were afraid to say it out loud.

Seungcheol’s heart almost dropped, because he remembered Jeonghan telling him about how Wonwoo had been fostered once, but they had sent him back to _The Angel House_ due to his foster parents deeming themselves unfit to take care of him.

Their son knew rejectment, and of course it made sense for him to distrust… but it still hurt them. And they wanted to make it better.

“We’ll _always_ be here to pick you up, even if it’s just one of us, we’ll make sure there’s always someone waiting for you, baby, we promise.” Jeonghan said, before Seungcheol could.

Somehow, Seungcheol was glad, because he felt like crying every time that Wonwoo worried about things like these.

Wonwoo’s lower lip wobbled and he gingerly extended his pinky, letting go of their hands in the process.

“Pinky promise?” He offered, with a small crooked smile, clearly trying not to cry.

Seungcheol felt exactly like him and he was also moved that Wonwoo would want to seal their promise like that, because it was innocent and childlike in a way it was endearing. Wonwoo had always been perceived by others like this bloomy quiet and mature child, but Seungcheol and Jeonghan had discovered how funny and playful he was and they loved him even more because of that.

“Okay, pinky promise.” Jeonghan conceded, eyes shiny with tears, Seungcheol extended his hand as well and the three of them sealed the promise.

It took a few more minutes of hugging and reassuring and _coddling_ and then Wonwoo was ready to leave. Both Seungcheol and Jeonghan watched him go inside, heart thumping in their chests.

Jeonghan couldn't believe It was their boy’s first day at school since they had adopted him and he would be lying if he said that he was ready. He’d miss him so much and he worried that he wouldn’t fit in, that kids would mock him, or that they’d find him different.

The same reason that had drawn him to Jeonghan the first time he saw him.

Wonwoo finally disappeared from view and Jeonghan saw Seungcheol literally _trembling_ as he tried to hold back his tears.

“I’m going to cry.” He said, covering his face.

Jeonghan tore his eyes away from the school door and to his husband, reaching out to caress his cheek.

“You’re _already_ crying, Cheol.” He commented softly, trying not to tease him about how emotional he was being, because he felt the same. “Come on, I’ll drive you or you’ll be late to work.”

Usually they didn’t hold hands in public, less in front of their kid’s school, but as they walked towards the car, Jeonghan extended his hand anyway, and Seungcheol —after a small moment of panic— couldn’t help himself and squeezed right back.

If this was the start of their new life, he wouldn’t pick anyone else over Cheol to share it with.

***

Wonwoo was a twelve year old already, it was only expected to get a call from school eventually, right?

Jeonghan couldn’t think of any reason that would end up in Wonwoo misbehaving so badly that their teachers would decide to call them to talk to them about it though.

Their boy was usually so quiet and obedient, he had good grades too, his teachers would usually _congratulate_ him on good behavior.

Jeonghan partly knew that Wonwoo didn’t want to cause any trouble to them, so he behaved at school, although in the house he was a bit more playful and even a prankster with his two younger brothers and the rest of the family.

They hadn’t exactly explained _what_ had happened either, they had just said that they needed one of them to come back _urgently_. Which wasn’t a good sign. At all.

Maybe it was nothing to worry about, that’s what Jeonghan kept repeating himself all the way from his work to school. He was lucky that his boss actually liked him and allowed him to leave in such a hurry, because he knew that Seungcheol’s wouldn’t be that lenient.

The thing was... leaving before finishing his shift also meant he wouldn’t be able to pick up Chan. Seungcheol had already told him he had to work late today… so he had to do something about that. Soonyoung’s studio was closer to the nursery, maybe he could ask him to pick him up.

And Seungkwan was in drama club so he had to stay even later at school, but at least he was with Jun in it and Jeonghan wouldn’t have to worry, because Mingyu would always be there waiting for his kid.

He put on his phone on speaker as he drove and called Soonyoung first, and of course he said _no problem_ right away, because he had a soft spot for Chan (who didn’t?) and then Mingyu, only telling him to stay with Seungkwan if Jeonghan wasn’t done with the principal by the time drama club ended.

He also promised them he’d explain later, because it was unusual of him to ask for favors on such short notice, but truth was he didn’t have any information either, so he really wanted to make it as fast as he could to school and find out what the hell had happened.

Having his two other boys taken care of, he could finally focus solely on Wonwoo.

Oh, and he had to contact his other boy too.

When he called Seungcheol, it rang until he went to voicemail (no surprise there, he was working on an important project), so he decided to leave one.

_Hi… I’m on my way to school, got a call about Wonnie. Yes, shocking. I don’t know about the details. Call me when you can, love you._

He hung up the phone and finally made the last to school, heart beating fast. He was getting more worried by the minute, they would have told him if his kid was hurt, right? If it had been an emergency. He couldn’t stop thinking about the worst possible outcomes, so as soon as he parked his car, he picked up his bag and phone and walked hurriedly inside, heading straight to the Principal’s office.

“You must be Wonwoo’s—”

“Yes, Yoon Jeonghan, that’s me.” He said, fixing his hair as he looked at the secretary, he knew that might have been rude, but he hadn’t seen Wonwoo sitting on the chairs, which could only mean he was inside the office. And it made him want to see him even more.

Was his boy being scolded? Was he okay? What the _hell_ had happened?

The secretary only stood up, knocking on the door and whispering that he had arrived, and the Principal _finally_ said he was able to come inside.

Jeonghan tried to stop the rapid beating of his heart, because he felt out of breath already. He bowed gently to the secretary and then entered to the office. His eyes immediately scanned the room, and he found his kid sitting in the chair, looking down, hair covering his eyes.

He knew Wonwoo was twelve, but he looked so much younger that Jeonghan had to fight the sudden urge to protect him of whatever was happening in there.

“Son-seonsaengnim,” he said curtly, bowing as he sat down next to Wonwoo.

Wonwoo didn’t even look up, so Jeonghan gently lifted his chin, checking him, he didn’t seem hurt and he didn’t seem like he had been crying.

For the first time today, Jeonghan allowed himself to breathe.

“Wonnie, are you okay?” He asked anyway, because he could never know for sure, maybe he was hurting somewhere else. Wonwoo only looked him in the eye for a second and then looked back down at his lap.

Jeonghan knew his son, there was a lot of reasons why he’d avoid his gaze like that.

He was hiding something.

“Jeonghan-ssi,” The Principal said, intently, reminding Jeonghan that they weren’t the only ones in the room.

Jeonghan took a deep breath, tearing his eyes away Wonwoo, maybe he could find out his version later, now he needed to deal with _this_.

“Why is my son here? What happened?” Jeonghan asked, straightening up in his seat. He really wanted to hold Wonwoo’s hand, because he looked like he needed it, but he’d rather do so when they were outside. He could tell how uncomfortable Wonwoo was here.

He couldn’t exactly blame him.

“Why don’t we let Wonwoo tell you what happened instead?” Jeonghan almost let out a sigh out loud, because _really?_

That was too passive aggressive for Jeonghan’s taste, but whatever.

“It’s okay, Wonwoo-yah. I only want to know what happened.” He said softly, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder.

Wonwoo looked down at his linked hands and took a few moments to reply, speaking for the first time today.

“I punched a classmate.” He whispered, and Jeonghan’s heart sank, shock and surprise overtaking his features. He hadn't been expecting that at all. “That’s what happened.”

 ***

Jeonghan had never been this useless at work.

He couldn’t exactly help it though, he kept staring at his phone, in case Wonwoo would call.

It was the longest day ever, and Jeonghan didn’t remember the last time he felt this anxious about something. Maybe he should have told Wonwoo that he didn’t have to go to school, maybe they should have tried again tomorrow? But what if he kept thinking they wouldn’t come for him? Well... Eventually it’d be good for him to notice that they would.

This needed to happen, it was just school, but Jeonghan still felt uneasy through the whole day anyway.

It was almost three months since they had adopted Wonwoo and Jeonghan worried that the boy wasn’t comfortable with them as parents since he still kept calling them _hyung_. And now with Wonwoo’s concerns during the morning, Jeonghan wondered if maybe Wonwoo didn’t know they planned to keep him, for the rest of his life.

Not just a month or two.

He still had half an hour left to finish his workday, and he was restless. He had no idea how he’d manage to survive the whole day without calling Seungcheol or Wonwoo. Usually he wasn’t the anxious one, that was more of Seungcheol’s area, but today… when they made that pinky promise, Jeonghan could swear that something about their relationship with Wonwoo had changed.

Maybe Wonwoo would see that they meant this. That they’d be there for him.

Which was why, as soon as the clock hit four o’clock, Jeonghan picked up his things and all but ran towards the car, heading to school. Wonwoo only needed to wait outside the school the ten minutes it took Jeonghan to get there from his work.

Jeonghan would never forgive himself if he took a minute longer. Especially today.

He would be lying if the trip to school was a pleasant one, his heart was beating so fast that he genuinely worried about having a heart attack at the young age of twenty four, his hands were sweating as he held the wheel and he could only pray that as soon as he’d ask Wonwoo about his first day, he’d say that he had had a nice one.

As soon as he had parked the car, he made sure he had his keys and put on his glasses, and got out. He hurriedly crossed the street and his eyes started to scan the school entrance, looking for his boy.

There were still some kids around, and Jeonghan panicked for a second, until he felt a small tug on his shirt and turned, finding Wonwoo with a tear streaked face. He only managed to catch the way he was holding a crumpled paper on one hand and his bag was falling off his right shoulder.

Jeonghan’s heart broke at the sight and he didn’t wait a second longer and picked him up, hugging him tight against him.

“I’m here, I’m right here. Sorry, baby.” He was sure that he only took the ten minutes he was supposed to, but he still felt guilty, because Wonwoo had thought that they wouldn’t come for him.

And that thought had made him _cry_.

He rubbed his back, fighting off the tears himself.

“ _Appa._ ” Wonwoo said against his shoulder, so muffled he almost missed it. “You came.”

Jeonghan swallowed the lump in his throat, had he heard correctly? Did Wonwoo just call him _appa_?

Oh God, he’d cry. He’d cry on the entrance of his kid’s school. 

Was it too creepy if he wanted to record that and keep listening it forever?

Just in case Wonwoo decided not to call him that ever again.

It was definitely awkward the way he was holding onto Wonwoo, his little elbow jabbing on his side as they hugged, and he was still clutching that paper on his left hand, but he wouldn’t let go and honestly Jeonghan wouldn’t either.

“We promised, didn’t we?” Jeonghan said, planting a kiss on Wonwoo’s wet cheek. He never did notice when he started crying again, but so was he, so it wasn’t like he could say anything about it.

“You did.” Wonwoo said, sniffling and then he pulled back, enough so Jeonghan could see him smiling. His glasses were all fogged over and his cheeks were red, but he looked adorable and Jeonghan loved him _so_ much it even scared him a little.

“You just called me appa, Wonwoo-yah.” Jeonghan pointed out gently, kneeling down to fix his fringe.

“Oh… right.” Wonwoo’s smile fell a little, looking surprised at himself for doing so and then… worried that Jeonghan might tell him something about it. “Is that okay?” He asked shyly.

“More than okay.” Jeonghan replied, placing a kiss on his forehead. He pointed at the paper on Wonwoo’s hand. “What do you have in there?”

“A family drawing.” Wonwoo said cheerfully, but then he chewed on his lower lip. “But it crumpled all over. Sorry. I was just holding it too tight.” He admitted sheepishly.

Jeonghan almost cooed out loud, he was too emotional for this boy and everything he did.

He had no idea what he’d do.

“Can I see?”

“Noo, I’ll make you a new one. You deserve the prettiest one.” Wonwoo said, hiding the paper behind his back. Jeonghan was happy that Wonwoo had stopped crying, but his eyes filled with tears again, that was so sweet of him. “It has to be perfect.”

Jeonghan sniffled, because he’d love the drawing either way, but the fact that Wonwoo would want it to be perfect for him, for _them_ , it was endearing.

“Are you crying?” Wonwoo asked with a small smile, reaching out to wipe Jeonghan’s cheek.

“Maybe,” Jeonghan conceded, looking up to meet Wonwoo’s eyes. “Don’t tell Cheol.”

Wonwoo let out a laugh, eyes shiny with tears too.

“Okay, appa.”

***

“Now you know what happened. And you must also know we cannot accept this violent behavior.”

Jeonghan sat there, shocked, he couldn’t say he expected something like this coming from Wonwoo… he was harmless. He really was, he wasn’t just telling it because he was his kid, but Wonwoo was the most pacific twelve year old he had met.

He was at loss for words for a few seconds, not knowing what to say, how to defend him.

Five years certainly hadn’t prepared him for this.

“Something must have happened... for you to react like that, right?” He asked, looking towards Wonwoo. He had to try really hard not to stammer or let his voice waver, because he didn’t really know how to handle this and he definitely didn’t want the Principal to know that.

He desperately wanted a reason for this, it just didn’t make sense.

“There’s no excuse for—” The principal started.

And Jeonghan all but _glared_ at him.

“I know, I just…” He took a deep calming breath, getting impatient and mad wouldn’t help at all. He just couldn’t believe for a second that his boy would punch a classmate just like that, out of nowhere.

Wonwoo only looked down again, refusing to reply, but It only made Jeonghan more worried.

“Were you fighting? Did he hurt you first?” He asked instead, trying to even up his tone of voice. “Can you tell me what happened?”

There was no response to that, Wonwoo just sat there, breathing just a bit more ragged, which Jeonghan only managed to catch because he was sitting so close to him.

Jeonghan certainly didn’t want to make him reply, but he was also concerned. And scared that something might have happened to him. He still knew him like the back of his hand though, so he wouldn’t expose him in a situation where he clearly didn’t feel comfortable.

So he decided to straighten up in his seat again, eyes on Son Seungwon instead. He wondered if maybe before that he had arrived, he had been telling him things to Wonwoo and that was why he was acting so closed off.

His son looked scared.

“Jeonghan-ssi, we’ve not put up any problems considering you and your… partner.” He started and it made Jeonghan’s blood boil.

“Husband.” He corrected, with a deadpan tone, surprised at how steady his voice sounded. 

He did _not_ go all across the globe to get a marriage certificate for his relationship to be underestimated like that.

 _Sure_ , one thing was that his kid had punched another one, but Wonwoo had a perfect record before, he at least deserved to tell his version of what had happened. And even then, what the hell did it have to do that he had a relationship with Seungcheol?

It had never been a problem before and it didn’t have to be a problem today.

Jeonghan took a deep breath, he wished Seungcheol were here to help him handle this. Although he’d probably get mad anyway, at least Jeonghan could feel he had some help right now. Someone on his side.

“Still, I’m afraid maybe Wonwoo has a bad influence at home, of course I don’t mean you, you have a degree in—”

“Son-seonsaengnim,” He interrupted, because he’d not tolerate someone insulting on his husband, when he wasn’t even there to protect himself. “With all due respect—”

“I mean, this violent reaction does make sense, considering his upbringing-”

Jeonghan closed his mouth, dumbfounded.

What was that supposed to mean? The orphanage? Or them raising Wonwoo at home?

Neither was acceptable though.

And the school wasn’t supposed to know about any of that. Seungkwan had made it very clear the first day he got to school that he was in fact _adopted_ and everyone else could go to hell (he hadn’t used those words, but it still meant that) if they had anything to say about it.

It was a very interesting first day of kindergarten.

But Wonwoo’s case was different.

Although some people believed that one of them could actually be Wonwoo’s biological father- people had babies at eighteen, sometimes- they hadn’t actually confirmed that with them.

They shouldn’t have that information.

With Seungkwan was a given, and with Channie, it was an ongoing rumor, since he was still a baby.

Sure, they gave them hell in some schools because they were both men, but something about the way Seungwon spoke about it, made Jeonghan think that maybe the school had more information than they thought.

“His upbringing.” Jeonghan repeated, tone dropping dangerously low.

“Appa,” Wonwoo said quietly from his side, voice wavering for the first time today.

It only made Jeonghan more determined.

“Wonnie, do appa a favor and wait for me outside.”

He was not having this conversation in front of his boy.

“But—”

“ _Please_ , baby, it’ll only be a second.”

There was a tense silence where Wonwoo stared from Jeonghan to the Principal.

“Okay.”

Wonwoo awkwardly stood up, eyes on the Principal just in case he’d tell him to stay, but he didn’t. So he picked up his bag, bowed and left.

“ _Look_ , I know my son made a mistake and I _tried_ to be respectful, but I won’t accept—”

And the door closed behind him, muffling Jeonghan’s voice and whatever the Principal decided to reply to that.

***

“Hyung.”

“Hm?”

“ _Hyung._ ”

Seungcheol blinked awake, sounds of rain and the image of Wonwoo next to his bed being the first things he managed to perceive.

“The power went off.” Wonwoo added, as soon as Seungcheol sat up.

“The what?” Seungcheol asked, still a bit disoriented, looking at the other side of the bed until he remembered that Jeonghan was in Busan during the weekend, for a business trip.

His eyes traveled around the room and to the hallway and he noticed it was pitch black, his eyes slowly adjusting to the lack of light.

Right, he was all by himself with Wonwoo, the first time they’d stay alone on the house.

“Hyung.” Wonwoo insisted gently, and just then Seungcheol was able to make up his expression.

He looked worried… not only that, he looked _scared._

Of course he would. He was only seven, Seungcheol remembered being scared of the dark back then. Even more if he was alone.

“Sorry, baby.” Seungcheol said, although Wonwoo hadn’t asked him for anything just yet (but he knew). “Hop on.” He said, patting the bed.

Wonwoo didn’t need to be told twice and he climbed to the other side, as Seungcheol made sure he was properly tucked in.

“There we are.”

The incessant sound of heavy drops against the roof didn’t stop, if anything, it only got louder and Wonwoo timidly shuffled closer, until he was just inches away from Seungcheol.

Seungcheol didn’t think too much about it and pulled him close, wrapping an arm around him and willing to go back to sleep, but Wonwoo was still breathing heavy, little hands clutching at the covers.

“What is… hyung doing in Busan?” Wonwoo asked quietly, breaking the silence between them after a few minutes had passed. Seungcheol tried to stay properly awake, even though he was exhausted and it should be like three in the morning.

But if Wonwoo wanted to talk, and something was worrying, he’d play along.

He also didn’t miss the way he called Jeonghan _hyung_ instead of _appa_ , because Seungcheol knew that on the first day of school, Wonwoo had stopped referring Jeonghan like an older brother.

Maybe Wonwoo didn’t want to call Jeonghan _appa_ in front of him, because he had still hadn’t call Seungcheol _appa_.

He couldn’t say he was jealous about it… he knew that those two would always have a more special bond because they knew each other from before and Jeonghan had been Wonwoo’s first positive relationship.

But _still_ , he worried, was he doing something wrong? Didn’t Wonwoo trust him enough to call him _appa_? Did he act too much like an older brother and not a paternal figure?

He hated not to know and he was afraid to ask, not wanting to pressure him.

“Cheol-hyung?” Wonwoo insisted, voice rough with sleep.

“Oh, sorry, bud.” Seungcheol replied, clearing his throat. “He’s on a business trip. He has to go to a very important meeting in there, there will be conferences and he needs to make a presentation too, that’s why he was picking a nice suit last week.”

“Ah.”

Seungcheol wondered what was he supposed to do. Should he ask about why he asked, or maybe talk about Wonwoo’s feelings, maybe he missed Jeonghan.

If neither of them planned to sleep, he’d rather talk to him, just as Jeonghan would do if he were here.

“Wonwoo-yah.”

“Yeah?”

“Is… there anything you want to talk about?” Seungcheol asked, when he noticed how much Wonwoo was trying to calm his breathing, as if he were afraid he’d cry or lose his cool otherwise.

There was a small pause, and a halt in his breathing.

“Yeah.” Wonwoo said and Seungcheol waited, because if he had learned something in all the time he had met Wonwoo was that the boy needed his space.

“Storms make me scared.”

Oh… right, that should be obvious, yet it hadn’t crossed Seungcheol’s mind. He thought it might have been the dark, kids were afraid of the dark all the time.

“Want to try and go back to sleep?” He offered, just in case.

“I don’t think I can… I’m sorry.”

“There’s no reason to be sorry, Wonnie.” Seungcheol assured him, placing a kiss on his head. “Want me to make you some warm milk? We can eat those chocolate chip cookies too.”

Wonwoo smiled, causing all of Seungcheol’s worries to ease for a moment.

Fifteen minutes later, Seungcheol had decided to make a little pillow fort in the living room, placing the cups of milk and plate of cookies on the coffee table. They had eaten some as Seungcheol warmed up the milk, but he still left them there in case Wonwoo wanted more.

There was more light coming from the outside and Wonwoo looked less scared here, since there wasn’t so much noise like in the second floor.

“Okay then, we’ve got blankets, we’ve got my phone and a flashlight, and we’ve got this little guy.” Seungcheol said as he sat up, pointing to the stuffed fox that Wonwoo liked to sleep with (not that he’d ever admit it out loud). “And there’s light coming from the window too, huh? Pretty good.”

Wonwoo kept staring around, noticing that Seungcheol was right, not only it looked cozier than upstairs, the sounds of the rain against the ceiling weren’t that overwhelming from here.

The boy still looked uneasy so Seungcheol signalled him to come closer.

Wonwoo didn’t need to hold back and he all but ran towards the couch, hugging Seungcheol. It was uncomfortable, and there was definitely less space than an actual bed. But he didn’t care, Wonwoo seemed to find a way to fit against him anyway.

“Are you still scared?” Seungcheol asked softly, as he rubbed his back.

“Yes. Are you?”

Seungcheol was, he was actually such a scaredy cat most of the time. He wouldn’t even deal with spiders and he hated being alone.

“Kind of, yeah.” He admitted softly, Wonwoo looked up to him, interested. “But you make me feel so much safer.”

“Really?” Wonwoo asked, sounding so tiny that Seungcheol felt like dying.

“Yeah. If you’re here, I feel like I can do anything to protect you.” Seungcheol assured him, eyes fixed on the ceiling as he rubbed Wonwoo’s back up and down, hoping to lull him back to sleep. “And… And I’d do anything to protect you, Wonwoo-yah. I’m not letting anything happen to you, not while I’m around.”

There was silence for a moment, and Seungcheol wondered if maybe Wonwoo had fallen asleep, but then he felt Wonwoo actually hugging him tighter.

“You know… I’ve always wanted someone like you.” Wonwoo admitted. “When I was… back then in the orphanage, I always wanted someone who could protect me, I always imagined something like this.”

Seungcheol stopped rubbing his back, to place a kiss on the top of his head. His chest would burst with emotion right now, and he really didn’t want to cry, but he was so happy to be acknowledged by him.

“When you brought everything here, I could tell you didn’t like how dark it was, but you made it for me.”

“Well, Wonnie, I—”

“I just thought… like _woah_ , appa, that was _so_ cool of you.” Wonwoo said easily, leaning on Seungcheol’s chest. It took a few seconds for the to words to sink in (for both of them) and the boy immediately covered his mouth, blushing bright red.

Seungcheol felt his eyes welling up with tears this time and he sniffled, sounds of raindrops against the ceiling and the compass of Wonwoo's calm breathing (who finally fell asleep after that) the only ones resonating in the living room.

***

Wonwoo kept staring at the door uneasily, not knowing what to do.

For all he had thought about what could happen, he had totally forgotten _this_ part, where either Seungcheol or Jeonghan would come to school and talk to the teachers.

It’s just that it was the first time they had come for him. It was always Seungkwan, never him. And not only that, Jeonghan seemed to be _upset._

Even disappointed when he had to admit he had punched a classmate.

He wasn’t exactly proud of it either, he just… he didn’t know _why_ he reacted like that. Well, he did know _why_ , if Minsoo hadn’t broken the… he took a deep breath, it didn’t matter anymore. He’d get suspension or something like that. Or maybe they’d tell him to apologize to Minsoo.

Or both.

Still, he dreaded the moment they’d have to come home and he’d have to talk about this. He was so embarrassed… he was supposed to be a good role model for Seungkwan and Chan, and he wasn’t doing that either.

He really wanted to cry.

“Wonwoo?” He heard someone calling his name from the end of the hallway, and soon he noticed his Uncle Mingyu walking towards him, a worried expression on his face. “What are you doing here all by yourself?”

He quickly rubbed at his eyes, looking up at him and trying a smile. 

“Uncle,” He only looked down, too ashamed to actually explain. “It’s just that… um, I had a problem. Appa is speaking to Son-seonsaengnim because I…”

“You sure you want to talk about it?” Mingyu asked, reaching out to wrap an arm around Wonwoo’s shoulders. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Wonwoo leaned into the contact, mumbling a small _thank you_. He really didn’t want to think what he’d do when he got home, and he’d have to explain to Chan and Seungkwan what had happened.

But Seungcheol was the one he dreaded the most.

His heart ached when he thought about his disappointed expression.

“Okay. Let’s just wait for hyung to come out then.” Mingyu said and Wonwoo just closed his eyes, he was so glad that he was there, it was one of his favorite uncles.

“You sure you can wait with me, Uncle?” He asked, realizing after a few moments. “What about Junnie?”

“He’s still in drama club.” He commented easily. “He has an hour and a half to go, so don’t worry.”

Wonwoo kept looking at the door, wondering what took Jeonghan so long. Was the Principal so mad at him that he kept telling Jeonghan everything that he had done wrong?

He had started to doze off against Uncle Mingyu’s shoulder when he felt a phone vibrating, Mingyu hurriedly patted his pockets and said _sorry_ when he jostled him too much.

Wonwoo sat up straight, rubbing his eyes, almost forgetting where he was. 

“Sorry, Wonwoo-yah. I’ve got to pick this up.” Mingyu excused himself, making a weird face when he saw who was calling him. He went far enough so Wonwoo couldn’t hear and just then he spoke. “Seungcheol-hyung, where are you?”

“ _Work_.” Seungcheol replied, from the other side of the line. “ _Mingyu, I’m actually worried about something, are you in the kids’ school?_ ”

“Yes, hyung, I’m actually—”

“ _Have you heard about Jeonghan? I’ve been calling him but he won’t pick up._ ”

“He’s talking with the Principal right now. I’m with Wonwoo.”

“ _Oh my God, is he okay? What happened?_ ”

“I really don’t know.” Mingyu said, looking back at Wonwoo, who sat there, looking like a puppy that had been kicked, whenever he looked like that, Mingyu wondered if he was actually younger. He had grown up so fast, he was already twelve… didn’t mean he wasn’t a kid anymore though. “But he looks okay.”

“ _Fuck, I wish I—_ ” There were voices and someone calling Seungcheol’s name. “ _I_ _’m coming! Just a minute. Mingyu-yah, please, will you let me know if something happens? I can’t leave early today and I got worried with Jeonghannie’s voicemail._ ”

“Sure, hyung. I’ll let you know.” Mingyu replied, as the sounds on the other side of the line only got louder, he figured they wouldn’t have more time, so he approached to where Wonwoo was sitting, mouthing a _it’s your appa_ and then _do you want to talk?_ But Wonwoo shook his head quickly, looking scared.

“ _Thank you, talk to you later. Bye_.”

Mingyu didn’t even manage to say goodbye and then Seungcheol was gone, he sat down with a sigh, patting Wonwoo’s knee. It was easy to figure what was bothering the boy.

“No need to worry, Wonwoo-yah. They’d never get mad at you.” Mingyu assured him, and Wonwoo was surprised he could see right through him, but at the same time… what if they were?

Or worse, what if Jeonghan and Seungcheol were _disappointed_? What if they regretted adopting him?

“It’ll be okay.” Mingyu said, not minding that he hadn’t replied.

 _But what if it wasn’t?_ Wonwoo thought. chewing on his lower lip. What would he do if Seungcheol or Jeonghan got mad at him? If they loved him less because of this?

He had no idea what he’d do then.

***

Mingyu didn’t know what to do.

It was his first time babysitting Wonwoo. Usually Soonyoung or Jihoon would do it, and even though Mingyu had visited more than a few times, they hadn’t really spent much time together. Not alone at least.

It wasn’t like it was his first time taking care of children, he had a younger sister, but she liked to play and dance and she talked nonstop, the exact opposite of Wonwoo…

Since Jeonghan and Seungcheol had dropped him off, the seven year old had stayed on his living room, sitting with his hands on his lap, and eyes not even watching the TV that Mingyu had turned on.

Didn’t he like cartoons? Some kids didn’t… but Wonwoo had a backpack with a book he liked (as Jeonghan had explained) but he wasn’t reading that either and Mingyu kept wondering why.

Was he uncomfortable? Did he want to leave? Did he miss Jeonghan and Seungcheol? Why didn’t he _talk_? He looked actually _scared to death_ and Mingyu didn’t understand.

Out of the two, Minghao was friendlier with kids (although he wouldn’t admit it, he liked to keep the cool front), and Mingyu was somehow… awkward.

“Wonwoo-yah, dinner will be ready soon.” He said, wishing for Minghao to come home quickly so he’d help him.

Wonwoo only looked up, nodding slowly. He didn’t even smile, just a tiny nod. Mingyu almost swallowed, feeling anxious.

What if he told Jeonghan and Seungcheol that he hadn’t felt comfortable here? Or that he didn’t want to come over again? Or maybe Mingyu had done something wrong… but he had no idea what. He only remembered telling him to suit himself with anything on the house. That was probably okay, right?

He kept stirring one of the pots (he had no idea which one), trying to think what could they have in the house that was suitable to entertain a seven year old.

Maybe a movie?

He turned to ask Wonwoo to set the table and noticed the boy was _gone_.

Oh _fuck_.

Mingyu tried not to freak out. Maybe he had gone to the bathroom, or maybe to look around the house. Or maybe he had left the front door unlocked and Wonwoo had been _kidnapped_.

“Wonwoo?” He asked, looking around the living room area.

No reply.

He quickly turned the heat down on all the pots and pans, and got out of the kitchen, searching for him. If he paid attention, he couldn’t hear any noise coming around the house, and it got him even more worried.

Why was this happening to him? Wonwoo was seven, why couldn’t he be a tad _noisier?_

“Wonwoo, where are you?” He asked, tone louder and a bit more intent. God, Jeonghan was going to kill him. And then Seungcheol would kill him.

He searched all around the first floor, but there was no sight of Wonwoo, and his heart started to beat faster, what should he do?

Mingyu went upstairs (missing half of the steps in his hurry) and made it to the second floor, breathing hard. What if something bad had happened to Wonwoo?

He wouldn’t forgive himself if it did.

“Wonwoo-yah?” He asked, looking around the hallway. He went to the main bedroom first, but he wasn’t there, then the guest room, and nope.

He was a second away to break down crying and call Jeonghan, until he noticed the door of the darkroom, it had been left ajar.

Mingyu almost crossed his fingers, trying to slow down his breathing as he headed there and gingerly opened the door fully, finding Wonwoo in the middle of the room, looking around.

He let out an actual sigh of relief, placing a hand on his chest, trying to stop himself from getting a heart attack.

“Wonwoo-yah… please, don’t disappear like that,” Mingyu pleaded, closing the door behind him. “I got worried.”

Wonwoo flinched, turning around slowly, with an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry,” He whispered.

Ah, it was really hard to get mad at him, especially when he looked like that.

Mingyu came closer to him, ruffling on his hair gently so he wouldn’t sulk over this. It was Wonwoo’s first time on his house and Mingyu wanted him to have a good time, he really did.

“It’s okay, next time answer when I call, okay?” He got a tiny nod on response, but at least he didn’t look scared, which Mingyu would count as a win today. “What are you doing here?”

“You told me I could explore,” Wonwoo said, pointing around. “And this room looked different and… spooky.”

Right, spooky.

“It’s a darkroom,” He explained. “Usually we keep the door closed, because if light gets inside, it ruins the photos.” Not _usually_ , more like all the time, but he didn’t want Wonwoo to think that he was being scolded.

“Oh.”

“You like it?” He dared to ask, Wonwoo nodded again, maybe he hadn’t noticed, but since Mingyu had ruffled his hair, the kid had shuffled closer to him, almost leaning against him.

Mingyu decided to take a risk and gingerly wrapped an arm around him, Wonwoo stiffened for a second, but then he got even closer, and it faintly reminded Mingyu of a cat, the way he seemed so sullen but he was actually really soft.

“Appa likes photos too.” Wonwoo commented, with a small smile.

Ah, right, that’s where the interest came from, he should have known.

“Do you know what hyung— I mean, what your appa does?” Mingyu asked, noticing how Wonwoo’s eyes sparkled up at the mention of Seungcheol as his father.

He also remembered how both Jeonghan and Seungcheol had commented over the group chat when Wonwoo had called them _appa_ , for the first time and he thought that maybe reinforcing that was important to all of them.

“Want me to show you?” He asked and Wonwoo nodded happily.

Luckily his laptop was at hand, so signalled Wonwoo to come closer and scrolled through the files, settling on one of Minghao’s favorite photos.

It was a photo of Seoul, the nightlights and sunset giving it a blue and orange glow, making the city look magical. It was definitely one of Mingyu’s favorite photos too, he loved how the street lights looked like they were on fire and the blue sky seemed to shine upon the buildings.

“See?” Mingyu pointed, balancing his laptop in one hand, while they exited the room and walked towards the hallway, heading to Minghao’s studio. Mingyu kept telling him it looked more like a library since he had taken the habit of reading (and collecting books) lately, but Hao was a stubborn one. When they finally got there, Mingyu settled the laptop on the desk, in front of the hanged photo on the wall.

Wonwoo had kept silent the whole time, just looking around with his lips parted, Mingyu had no idea if it was because of the house, or all the artsy things they liked to keep in here, or maybe the fact they had a darkroom… they knew it was old fashioned, but honestly, they both loved it.

“Your appa takes photos like this.” He pointed at the laptop. “And makes it look like that.” He pointed at the photo nailed to their wall, it had been one of Minghao and Seungcheol's first projects together and Mingyu thought it made it even more special. 

Seungcheol had edited in a trendy, certainly professional way, highlighting the blue and orange tones. 

It made the photo look even better, in a way Wonwoo didn't understand, but he thought it looked so much cooler. 

Wonwoo let out a small _woah_ in amazement and Mingyu couldn’t help but smile, this kid loved and admired Seungcheol so much, it was adorable.

“Pretty cool, huh?” He commented and Wonwoo nodded furiously and for the first time today, Mingyu felt actually more confident.

He still didn’t quite understand how Jeonghan and Seungcheol had decided to adopt a child while they were only twenty four, but now he was starting to feel like it made sense. How they had thought they were capable to take care of him and how much this boy needed someone to take that parental role— 

His thoughts were interrupted by the distinct sound of Wonwoo’s stomach growling in hunger and immediately the kid went bright red, hugging his middle side.

Mingyu tried not to laugh, not wanting to embarrass him any further.

“Sorry, Wonwoo, let’s eat dinner. It should be ready by now.” (Hopefully not burnt).

They both went downstairs, and Mingyu found out that the conversation went easily after that. They both set the table and got ready to eat, he even reminded Wonwoo to wash his hands (which sounded like something Jeonghan would do).

Once they were already settled, he realized he was also quite hungry too, but when he was about to start eating, he noticed Wonwoo staring down at his plate, not doing anything.

“Don’t you like it?” Mingyu asked, thinking that maybe he had chosen the wrong recipe for today, why didn’t he ask Jeonghan and Seungcheol what did the boy like? Or maybe he was just shy?

“I don’t know.” Wonwoo said, examining it. “What is it?”

“Jjajangmyeon, you haven’t tried it?”

Wonwoo blinked up at him and shook his head.

“I’m pretty sure Seungcheol-hyung made it one time,” Mingyu said, thinking back. “Not like he’s really good cooking.” He commented lightly.

“Appa tried his best,” Wonwoo whispered defensively, eyes narrowing.

Well done, Mingyu.

“Oh no… that was just a joke.”

Wonwoo looked at him like he didn’t trust him for a moment, but his serious expression disappeared when apparently decided to _try_ the dish, then his eyes lighted up.

“Oh.”

“You like it?” Mingyu asked, chest swelling with pride.

“It’s really good.”

“It is?”

“I really like it.” Wonwoo said, nodding quickly, and for the second time today Mingyu understood what Seungcheol kept telling him about Wonwoo smiling and how he looked so much younger when he did. He also understood how Jeonghan had fallen immediately for the boy, about how sweet and cute he was.

Mingyu was actually proud himself for managing not to fuck it up after they had talked about photography (although he almost did, but luckily he was a good cook and made a smart choice for today’s recipe).

Things went smoothly after that.

As Seungcheol came to pick him up, they said goodbye, and not only did Wonwoo gave him a quick hug, he also told him he had had a great time, making Mingyu think that he hadn’t done so bad.

Lies, he did _great_. Kudos on him.

“Uncle Mingyu, next time, can we eat…” Wonwoo’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration, but in the end, he didn’t remember how it was called. ”The thing we ate today too? And maybe you can show me more photos too?”

“Of course, Wonwoo-yah. Whatever you want.” Mingyu indulged, staring at the kid with a fond smile.

“Thank you again, Gyu.” Seungcheol said, easily picking Wonwoo up to plant a big kiss on his temple. “Come on, bud, let’s go home.”

When they were back into the car, ready to go, Seungcheol turned towards the backseat, smiling at Wonwoo.

“How did it go with Uncle Mingyu? Seems like you had fun.”

Wonwoo hummed in thought, and for a moment Seungcheol got worried that something might have happened between them.

“It was great, he had so many cool photos, appa.” He commented, certainly impressed. “It was scary at first though, but I remembered what you and appa said about not judging people by their appearance.” He added, sounding proud of himself for remembering it.

 _Scary?_ Seungcheol kept his eyes on the road, furrowing his brows because _Mingyu_ and _scary_ just didn’t sound right, in any sentence.

“Why, baby? What do you mean?”

Wonwoo looked down, suddenly shy and mumbled:

“He’s _so_ tall, appa. It’s intimidating. I don’t think I’ve met anyone _that_ tall.”

Seungcheol _tried_ not to burst out laughing, but (unsurprisingly) failed. 

He couldn’t wait to tell this story to everyone else.

***

“Appa.”

 “Yes, baby?”

 “Are we changing schools?” Wonwoo asked quietly. Jeonghan looked at him through his rearview mirror, he was holding onto his bag, tightly, eyes fixed on the floor.

 The talk with the Principal had been a mess. It was almost an hour and Jeonghan _still_ didn’t know what had happened, not the full story, and Wonwoo had also gotten a detention, he only managed not to get expelled because he had an impeccable record before, but still.

He was so exhausted by the end of his little meeting with him, that he left the school right away, only to ask Mingyu to drop Seungkwan off later and to take Wonwoo’s hand to head to the car.

Jeonghan could easily recognize Wonwoo’s look now though.

He felt guilty, he wore the same expression once when he accidentally dropped one of Seungcheol’s expensive cameras.

Which only meant crying was the next step.

“We’re not,” Jeonghan answered easily, and then he bit on his lower lip, because Wonwoo didn’t even relax as he expected him to. Then he remembered how _terrified_ Wonwoo looked when he first entered the Principal’s office. Maybe he had said something to his boy? “Unless you’d like that?”

“No, that’s… I don’t know.” Wonwoo mumbled quietly. “I was only asking because Son-seonsaengnim seemed mad at you and… well you told me to leave.”

“Well… I got mad.” Jeonghan explained, because there was no reason to lie to him. “I didn’t want you to see that, it was a conversation between adults. But no… you’re not expelled or anything, so we don’t have to change schools. You just got a detention and you have to tell him you’re sorry.”

Jeonghan added the last part with a bitter tone, he still didn’t know how to feel about _that_ , he knew that maybe he should say sorry, but what if Wonwoo was defending himself?

He felt like such an idiot right now, he shouldn’t have gotten mad, he should have stayed calm, he should have handled it better.

If Wonwoo would have seen him acting more like an actual adult, maybe he’d tell him what happened.

“I’ll tell him I’m sorry.” Wonwoo whispered, still not looking at him in the eye. “I’m sorry for causing so much trouble, appa. I’m really sorry.”

Oh fuck, he’d cry.

He wanted to say so many things, like he wasn’t causing any trouble, that he loved him, but something was prickling at the back of his mind and he needed to find out what was happening.

“Wonwoo.” Jeonghan asked him, heart squeezing at how helpless his son had just sounded. “Did that boy, Minsoo, hurt you? Would you tell appa if he did?”

Wonwoo’s eyes met Jeonghan’s for a second, through the rearview mirror, and he thought that _maybe_ he’d get an answer, but then a phone started vibrating and Jeonghan _almost_ cursed under his breath. He noticed it was Soonyoung, and in any other time he’d have told him he’d call him back later, but he had asked him to pick Chan up.

He didn’t say anything to Wonwoo and instead replied to the phone, putting it on speaker so he could keep driving.

“Soonyoungie, you’re on speaker, behave.” Jeonghan immediately said, only half playfully.

“ _Hyung! Why do you say that? I always do! How did everything go?_ ” Soonyoung asked, sounding offended.

“Well,” Jeonghan caught the embarrassed expression on Wonwoo’s face and he knew that their friends could wait to know what had happened. They didn’t need to know today. “We had an issue with Wonnie, but he’s okay.”

“ _With Wonnie? Is he listening?_ ” He asked, but Wonwoo didn’t say a thing, Soonyoung kept going as if he didn’t care if he was. “ _Tell him I love him! Ruffle his hair for me too!_ ”

“Gotcha, Uncle Soonyoung.” Jeonghan answered, with a small smile. Wonwoo had smiled a little too, probably feeling a bit better. “Everything okay with Channie?”

“ _HI APPAAA._ ” Jeonghan let out a small laugh, his baby’s voice easing down his anxiety. “ _HI HYUNG._ ”

“Hi baby, I’m glad to know you’re fine.” He said. “We’ll see you in a while, be good for Uncle Soonyoung and-”

“ _Hyung, are you okay?_ ” came Chan’s tiny voice over the phone, interrupting Jeonghan.

As if he had sensed his brother wasn’t.

Wonwoo’s heart actually warmed at that, but he also felt guilty, because he’d need to tell his baby brothers what had happened… and he wanted to be a good hyung for them, a good example.

“Channie,” Wonwoo said, loud enough so he could be heard over the phone. “Hyung’s okay. No need to worry about me.”

Chan kept whining that he wanted to see his hyung, but Soonyoung’s voice took over the phone.

“ _Wonnie, hey!_ ” There was a small pause, where Wonwoo took a deep breath, trying to resist the sudden urge to cry. “ _Whatever that might be going on in that little head of yours, it’ll be okay! I promise!”_

His eyes got shiny with tears, and he wasn’t able to reply to that, so Jeonghan did it for him, telling Soonyoung and Chan goodbye and that they’d talk later, when they were home.

Jeonghan figured it was too much to ask for an answer about what had happened now, so he forced himself not to push it again and wait.

Wonwoo would be ready to speak eventually.

***

“It’s the perfect birthday present.”

“It’s not.”

“It _is_.”

“Jeonghan-hyung is going to kill you, I don’t think he’ll appreciate this kind of prank.”

“ _Jihoonie_ , you’re taking the fun out of it.” Soonyoung sighed, as he closed the car door and picked up a big package and a gift bag too.

“Because it’s _not_ fun, who gives _that_ to a seven year old?” Jihoon asked as he got out of the passenger seat, looking too tired to be this early in the day. He also picked up his _own_ gift, because he didn’t want to make an enemy of Yoon Jeonghan.

He couldn’t think of anything scarier than that.

“He’s turning eight though.” Soonyoung considered, walking towards the entrance of the house, being followed by a grumpy Jihoon.

“You’re missing the point.”

“It’ll be fun, you’ll see.” Soonyoung assured him, knocking on the door, it was difficult to do so, with such a big package on one hand and a gift bag in the other, but with all the bickering they had been doing during the car ride Jihoon refused to help him.

They hadn’t been able to attend to Wonwoo’s birthday party, because they both had a music show they needed to go to, but they had decided to bring his gifts and visit Wonwoo on the next morning.

 _And_ Soonyoung had decided it’d be a laugh to bring a prank gift to Wonwoo, just because he thought that maybe the boy would laugh (which he never did around Soonyoung, but strangely did so around Jihoon).

Sometimes Soonyoung believed that the boy would only do it to piss him off.

It only took a few moments for Wonwoo to be the one to open the door. He was still wearing his pyjamas, looking adorable, so much Soonyoung would pinch his cheeks if he weren’t carrying so much stuff.

Wonwoo’s hair was standing in all the wrong directions, and it made Jihoon think that maybe ten am was too early to visit after all, since it was a Sunday and usually people (i.e. Yoon Jeonghan) would be asleep.

“Hi?” He asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes. When he looked up and recognized both Jihoon and Soonyoung though, his eyes light up, jumping a little on his spot because he wasn’t able to contain his excitement. “Hi Uncle Jihoon! Hi Uncle Soonyoung! You really came!”

“Hello kid,” Jihoon said first, when Wonwoo threw himself at him, giving him a hug. “Happy birthday, Wonwoo.”

Soonyoung didn’t miss the way Jihoon got all red about receiving a hug from Wonwoo, but he decided not to point it out today. He also noticed the way Seungcheol and Jeonghan came from inside the house, watching the interaction fondly.

They were still wearing their pyjamas, so Jihoon figured it might be too early after all. But honestly he really didn’t care, not now that Wonwoo was hugging him tight and kept babbling about how many people had come yesterday and what a great time he had.

It was endearing.

When Wonwoo finally pulled back from hugging Jihoon, Soonyoung knew it was finally his turn.

“Hi, sorry we missed the party, Wonwoo-yah.” Soonyoung said as Wonwoo hugged him too.

Jihoon was smug about it, but by any means, he looked like he was Wonwoo’s favorite so far.

Soonyoung planned to change that today.

“It’s okay,” Wonwoo assured them, nodding wisely. “Appa said you had to work.”

“Hello you two,” Jeonghan said, finally appearing from inside the house and leaning on the door. “Come on in, we saved you some cake.”

Not only they had cake for breakfast, but pancakes too, and Soonyoung was glad that he hadn’t eaten breakfast at home, because the pancakes Seungcheol made were delicious and definitely worth it. After all, the music show had been yesterday, he didn’t have to worry about getting into a tight suit today.

He could eat whatever he wanted.

It was clear that Wonwoo kept staring from time to time to the living room, but he had been patient and polite enough to wait until the breakfast was over, to tug on Jeonghan’s sleeve, with a sheepish expression.

“Appa, can I open the presents?” Wonwoo asked, pointing at the packages on the couch. Jeonghan looked at him with a fond smile, placing a kiss on his temple.

“Of course, sweetie.”

“Wonnie, this one first.” Soonyoung said urgently, handing over the big package over. Wonwoo barely held it in his arms, frowning gently at it.

Jeonghan didn’t know what he thought about parental instinct, but _something_ made him turn towards Soonyoung and how mischievous he looked.

Why did he insist on Wonwoo opening that enormous package otherwise?

At his side, Jihoon and Seungcheol looked oblivious, talking about the new idol group Jihoon had been writing songs to.

Maybe it was just a hunch, but still felt like something real…

“Soonyoung, you bought him an actual present, didn’t you?” Jeonghan asked, suspicion taking over his features as Wonwoo tried (without any results) to rip off the wrapping. In any other situation, he wouldn’t have cared about presents at all, but this was Wonwoo’s first birthday with them and Jeonghan wanted it to be perfect.

“He’ll love it.” He assured him, not replying to his question, which worried Jeonghan even more.

“Oh my God, Soonyoung, what did you do?” Jeonghan sighed deeply, sounding exasperated. He did not have the patience for this today.

“It’s nothing bad! Hyung, it’s just a—”

“Soonyoung, I swear to God if you—”

Their hushed conversation was interrupted by Wonwoo being finally able to unwrap the present, even Jihoon and Seungcheol shut up, and all of them found themselves staring at what was there.

It was a plant.

Not like a nice plant, or a plastic plant, just a regular plant.

Leaves. A pot and everything.

Soonyoung let out an actual cackle, as Jihoon covered his face with a groan. Seungcheol looked dumbfounded (just as Jeonghan felt, really).

And Wonwoo just blinked up at it, without any expression at all.

“I…” Wonwoo started, eyes scanning the plant slowly. Jeonghan’s heart squeezed uncomfortably in his chest, worried that he might end up crying or something. “I really like it.”

“See? You made him upset— wait, _what_?” Jeonghan said, letting go of Soonyoung’s shirt (he had no idea when he had taken hold of it). “What did you say, baby?”

Seungcheol was as surprised as Jeonghan, and Soonyoung stopped laughing too, frowning at Wonwoo.

“I said that I liked it.” Wonwoo whispered, feeling shy that all eyes were on him.

“You sure you do, sweetie? You don’t have to say you do just to be polite. We don’t have to be polite with Uncle Soonyoung anymore.” Jeonghan said, as he sat down next to Wonwoo. When he said the last words, he glared at Soonyoung, who shifted uncomfortably in his spot.

“But we tell him to be polite all the time—”

“Whose side are you on, Seungcheol?

“Yours, baby. Of course.” Seungcheol agreed with a pained look.

“We don’t have to be polite with Uncle Soonyoung _today_.” Jeonghan corrected, fixing his eyes on Wonwoo’s.

Wonwoo shook his head as he hugged the plant close.

“I’m not lying, appa. I really love it, I’ve always wanted one.” He said, his eyes wrinkling when he smiled. “Can I put it in my room?”

“These things only happen to you, Soonyoung.” Jihoon whispered with a sigh, covering his face one more time.

Why did he decide to be with him again?

Since Jeonghan was too shocked to reply, Seungcheol did so.

“It’s okay, go put it in your room.” Seungcheol conceded, ruffling his hair. Wonwoo carefully picked up the plant and carried it upstairs, humming happily.

All of them stood in the living room, too stunned to speak.

“But I bought him the new FIFA,” Soonyoung whined, lifting the gift bag Wonwoo hadn’t opened.

There was a tense silence, in which Jeonghan didn’t know if he should thank or _murder_ Soonyoung.

Both options sounded okay right now.

“Can we keep the FIFA?” Seungcheol asked sheepishly, pointing at the gift bag.

Jeonghan only groaned in response.

***

The ride home was a tense one.

Jeonghan kept thinking about what the Principal had told him, he hadn’t even checked his phone just in case Seungcheol had called, and he was worried as hell about Wonwoo.

What if he had been bullied and he didn’t know? What if this has happened before and they only knew now? Why didn’t Wonwoo tell anything?

He still couldn’t believe his boy had decided to punch a classmate, _just like that_.

It just didn’t make sense.

The only thing he was truly thankful, it was that he’d be able to speak to Wonwoo, in private, and without any of the other kids around.

Wonwoo kept being really closed off, especially when feelings were involved and Jeonghan didn’t want to make him more upset than he already was.

As soon as he started to park his car though, he noticed another familiar car in the entrance. Was that…

“Hi hyung!” A familiar voice said, Jeonghan suppressed a groan waiting for Mingyu to appear next to his window. “Um, drama club ended early and I didn’t know what to do—"

There he was.

Which only meant…

“Hyung! Why did you leave school so early?”

Seungkwannie, so much for a quiet _private_ talk with their eldest.

“Appa, did you go eat something without me? Or _worse_ , shopping?” Seungkwan asked, suspicion growing on his features as he trailed behind Mingyu and waved at Wonwoo.

Jeonghan tried not to groan out loud, because his baby didn’t deserve that. He knew he only felt short tempered because he had had to leave work early, he had had a fight with the Principal, he _still_ had no idea what the hell had happened and…

Well, he hadn’t been able to contact Cheol either.

“No, Seungkwannie.” He explained calmly. “We didn’t, we just had to stay and talk with hyung’s teacher.”

Teacher, Principal, whatever. He didn’t need to say that today, he’d only worry Seungkwan.

“Hi Wonwoo!” Jun’s voice interrupted this time and Jeonghan could really feel his patience running low. “We can play in my house, why don’t you come and we’ll—”

Mingyu caught the expression on Jeonghan’s face and Wonwoo’s silence and placed a hand on Jun and Seungkwan’s shoulders.

“Hey, guys, want to go to the mall? We can go and see a movie.” He offered, giving Jeonghan an apologetic look.

Probably for noticing just _now_ that maybe they should just leave them be.

Seungkwan stared from Wonwoo to Jeonghan and then at Mingyu, a pout starting to form on his lips.

Jeonghan couldn’t help but think how much his boys acted like Seungcheol sometimes, and that little reminder made him feel a little better, just for a second.

“Appa, can I stay?” Seungkwan asked seriously, looking both determined and _cute_.

“Baby, I really need to talk with your hyung and I’d rather—”

“ _Please_ , appa,” Seungkwan insisted, his pout intensifying. _Damn,_ it was hard to resist and the boy knew. Then he signalled for Jeonghan to come closer, so he’d whisper in his ear, Jeonghan did. “What if Wonwoo-hyung needs someone to talk to?”

Jeonghan couldn’t help but smile, he had no idea how his nine year old was suddenly so wise about solving these kind of situations, but he was sure that the boy in deed would help Wonwoo if he needed it.

“Okay. You can stay.”

“Hyung,” Mingyu almost winced. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. You sure you want to—”

“Don’t worry, Mingyu-yah, you’ve done more than enough to help us today.” Jeonghan assured him, smiling. He really appreciated having him, but maybe it had been a mistake to try and have the whole house to himself to try and talk to Wonwoo. They were still a family, and surely they could solve this like one.

He needed to thank Seungkwan later for reminding him that.

“Bye, Junnie.” Jeonghan said. “You can play with Wonwoo-yah next time, okay?”

After all of them had said their goodbyes, Jeonghan decided to tell Wonwoo to go to his room so they’d talk there. Wonwoo for once didn’t seem so anxious, probably because he needed to get this out of his system eventually.

And Jeonghan figured that the boy would need a moment or two alone to gather his thoughts.

Once he was all alone with Seungkwan, Jeonghan gently lifted his chin up, smiling at him.

“Baby,” He started gently. “Your hyung’s going through a hard time, so we’ll give him some space if he needs it, okay?”

“Okay.” Seungkwan said, nodding seriously.

“Good boy.” He praised, kissing the top of his head. “I’m going to go and talk to him, you can watch some TV in the meantime.”

With Seungkwan watching TV on the living room, and Jeonghan willing himself to calm down and breathe, he headed to Wonwoo’s bedroom, his heart beating overtime anyway.

He really didn’t know how to handle this. He just hoped to be doing it correctly, otherwise Wonwoo would learn the wrong lesson and that wouldn’t be good.

Jeonghan slowly opened the door and not a second later he felt Wonwoo wrapping his arms tight around his waist, hugging him close.

“I’m sorry,” He choked, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Oh, baby, it’s okay.” Jeonghan held him close, caressing his hair. Wonwoo hardly ever cried, and every time he did, Jeonghan felt like crying himself, this wasn’t the exception. “You said you were sorry, we’re not mad—”

Wonwoo shook his head.

“That’s not what I…” Wonwoo whispered, sniffling.

Jeonghan waited for a few seconds, rubbing his back, but Wonwoo kept crying, and he was starting to hyperventilate even more.

“Okay, let’s calm down.” Jeonghan tilted his chin up and caressed his cheek, smiling when Wonwoo started to breathe properly. “That’s right.”

It had always been like this with Wonwoo, when he felt upset Jeonghan had to carefully try to figure out what was wrong, because if he said the wrong thing at the wrong time, he’d close off and wouldn’t say anything at all.

“Want to tell me what happened now?” Jeonghan asked gently, when he sensed Wonwoo was calm enough, he was still crying, but at least he wasn’t choking on his words.

“He broke my game.” Wonwoo mumbled.

A game?

“Wonnie… was it important to you? You don’t usually react like that.” He had two younger brothers, they broke his things all the time, and he had never reacted like that.

Jeonghan figured, by Wonwoo’s silence, that maybe it had to do something with Seungcheol.

And he decided that maybe it wasn’t his place to know about _that_ right now.

“You can talk to appa about that, okay? Tomorrow morning, because he’ll be late today.” Jeonghan prompted gently, and that’s when the dam broke.

Jeonghan wasn’t sure if Wonwoo was afraid to speak to Seungcheol or if it was something else, but he figured they’d have time to deal with it later.

If Wonwoo had managed to calm himself before, now he had started crying all over again and Jeonghan could only hold him close, biting on his lower lip so he wouldn’t start crying as well.

“I’m so sorry, baby.” Jeonghan rubbed his back as Wonwoo literally clung to his shirt. “I’m sorry someone broke something that meant so much to you.”

Because it should have meant a lot if he had reacted like that.

“There’s… something else too.” Wonwoo admitted, looking down. “I said I was sorry, but… I lied. I’m… not sorry. He broke my game and he kept saying things... I know I shouldn’t—punch people, but I’m not sorry. I don’t want to say I’m sorry to _him_.”

This time the crying got even messier and Wonwoo started hiccuping, since he couldn’t breathe properly.

Jeonghan got worried about what that boy had said to Wonwoo, but his son sounded so frustrated with himself that it made Jeonghan think that maybe this had happened before. 

And he was only reacting now.

“I’m sorry I lied,” He said at the end and _finally_ everything clicked into place.

If he knew he had done something wrong, did he have to think of a punishment anyway? Did he have to make him say sorry to that kid? He had still hit him on the face and violence was a big no. But apparently Wonwoo was defending himself, although Jeonghan wasn’t entirely sure about what had happened.

Damn, for the first time in years, Jeonghan wondered if he was handling this situation correctly.

He couldn’t wait until Seungcheol arrived.

Apparently his lack of response took a toll on Wonwoo, because he choked on his tears, crying loudly.

“Are you—disappointed in me?” He mumbled, and Jeonghan pulled him close again, rubbing his back.

Even after all that had happened…

“I’m not, I could never,” He told him, eyes welling up with tears as well. He tilted his chin up, so Wonwoo could see he meant this. “Thank you for being honest with me.”

That was everything he’d do for today. No more asking why, no more pressuring him about answers, no more questions about the game and Minsoo.

Wonwoo had done something wrong and he wasn’t proud of it and it was enough for today.

He stayed there until Wonwoo calmed down and stopped crying, only holding him close.

“Baby, I’m going downstairs to check on your brother and start dinner, okay?” He asked. “Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

Wonwoo nodded shyly and cleaned at his tears, sniffling. And as Jeonghan was about to leave the room, he heard a small tiny _appa_ again, so he turned.

“Yes?”

“You can stop calling me _baby,_ I’m twelve now, you know?” Wonwoo asked, with a small smile.

Jeonghan couldn’t help but to smile as well, he hadn’t noticed how little he had seen that smile today and he missed it.

“Doesn’t matter, you’ll always be my baby.”

“Okay… maybe not in front of other people?” Wonwoo asked, and Jeonghan reached out to ruffle his hair.

“Deal.”

As soon as Jeonghan had closed Wonwoo’s door, his feet tripped onto something, almost making him fall.

“Oh, shit—” He looked around quickly, no kids around. He sighed in relief, if it was one of Chan’s toys again, he kept reminding him to—

He frowned and knelt down.

It wasn’t a toy. It was a paper bag, with something written on it, not only that… he recognized Seungkwan’s handwriting on it.

_Hyung, if you’re sad, you can talk to me too._

_P.S.: Please don’t cry._

_P.S. P.S: It’ll make your face look puffy._

He dared to peek inside the bag and noticed it was filled with Wonwoo’s favorite candies.

Jeonghan’s heart squeezed at the sight and he breathed in relief, he just couldn’t help to smile, whenever he had doubts that they hadn’t raised them correctly or something, things like _these_ happened and reminded him they were so kind.

They had had their up and downs, but he wouldn’t change a thing about this family.

***

“Boys, be careful, alright?”

“I’m being careful, appa!” Seungkwan assured him, Jeonghan’s heart squeezing at the sight of his baby shaking like a leaf and placing wobbling feet on the pedals as he started to ride his bike for the tenth time today.

Jeonghan and Seungcheol had started teaching him at first, but Seungkwan had insisted he was _big_ and he had settled on receiving help but only from his hyung.

Which was adorable on his own way, so they let it be. They thought it showed how well they got along and they wanted to encourage that. Seungcheol and Jeonghan still stood only a few meters away, only in case something went wrong and they needed to intervene.

They were glad they had enough yard for the kids to be able to play outside and the street was mostly empty, only a few cars passing from time to time, but their boys were practicing on the sidewalk anyway, so there was no risk whatsoever.

“He’s going to be okay.” Seungcheol said from his side, squeezing his shoulder.

It wasn’t that Jeonghan didn’t know that he would. But at the same time they had never had these kind of worries with Wonwoo, when they adopted him he was seven and he almost knew how to do everything by himself.

(Besides the boy had a quiet independent nature anyway).

With Seungkwan, they were experiencing having a much younger child at home and it was both scary and amazing. It was certainly testing their parental skills.

He was five, and he was _adorable_ , and certainly if they had gotten used to a quiet home before, now with Seungkwan they didn’t need to worry about turning on the radio or the TV, he always had something to talk about.

It had been hard to adjust at first (even more than when Wonwoo arrived) but everyone loved Seungkwan, so it made the process so much easier.

“They’re so adorable.” Seungcheol gushed, eyes fixed on their kids. Wonwoo kept pointing out the things Seungkwan needed to keep in mind as he was riding the bike, eyes on the road, feet placed on firmly on the pedals.

Wonwoo was only nine, but ever since they had adopted Seungkwan, he had taken the big brother role very seriously, he had helped him stop crying on his first day of school, and he had also taught him how to tie his shoelaces.

He had tried to read Seungkwan stories at night too, but Jeonghan and Seungcheol had decided that Wonwoo was still their baby and he deserved to be coddled from time to time too, so they settled on reading to both of them, although it certainly took more time, it was important not to let Wonwoo feel left out now they had a new kid at home.

It had worked pretty well so far.

Of course, the universe had proven that things always happened when life went well and today had been a good day, so when Seungkwan tried to pedal his way to the other side of the street, he lost his footing and _fell_.

Right on the concrete.

Both Jeonghan and Seungcheol’s hearts stopped at the sight and they were by Seungkwan’s side in a second. They knew that they shouldn’t freak out even if it was the damage was serious, since it’d only help to get the kids more upset, but luckily when they managed to untangle Seungkwan from his bike and sit him down, they noticed a scratch on his knee and two lines of blood dripping down his leg.

Okay, it wasn’t so bad, Jeonghan thought. It could definitely had been worse.

But apparently Seungkwan didn’t agree, because at the moment he saw the blood, he broke down crying, covering his face and _wailing,_  insisting he didn’t want to die, because he was still young.

Seungcheol clearly didn’t know what to do, so he settled on checking that the boy wasn’t hurt anywhere else, but apparently he wasn’t, only his knee, which was a relief.

Although their youngest still kept crying like he had broken every single bone of his body.

Since this was bound to get even more chaotic, Jeonghan decided to turn back to Seungcheol.

“Cheol, go and get the first aid kit, okay? We’ll be there in a minute.”

Seungcheol nodded quickly, clearly thankful that he had been ordered instead of trying how to figure out what to do himself (he always got so upset whenever the kids cried that sometimes he stopped functioning altogether).

Once his husband had disappeared inside the house, he turned towards Seungkwan again, with a calm expression.

“Come on, baby, can you walk?” He asked gently, but Seungkwan only shook his head, trembling hands reaching out to him instead.

Jeonghan started whispering comforting words to him, trying to shush him, but they were interrupted by the distinct sound of someone else choking on his tears.

“Appa. He fell... it was my fault.”

Of course, Wonwoo, he had almost forgotten about him amidst all of this chaos.

Jeonghan placed a hand on Seungkwan’s shoulder, caressing his arm up and down to calm him down, but his eyes fixed on Wonwoo.

The boy stood there, trembling all over, clearly trying not to cry but not being able to control himself.

His heart broke at the sight of his two babies in pain. 

“It’s okay, baby.” Jeonghan said, tone firm yet soft. “Look at me, it was just a scratch, your brother’s okay.”

“But he’s crying, and I was there—It was my fault.”

Jeonghan had thought that maybe he should have told Seungcheol to take Wonwoo inside as well, because comforting two upset boys was proving to be very difficult right now.

Seungkwan kept clinging to his waist, crying loudly and since Wonwoo mostly mumbled when he was scared or nervous Jeonghan could barely make out what he was saying.

Which was troubling.

Okay, one thing at a time.

“Appa,” Seungkwan whined tugging on his shirt, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Sorry, baby.” Jeonghan said, deciding it’d be quicker to just pick Seungkwan up and extending a hand towards Wonwoo, obviously he could walk by himself, but he looked so guilty and forlorn that Jeonghan figured he’d need the encouragement. “Come on, Wonnie, let’s get inside.”

For a second Wonwoo didn’t move, looking too scared to actually do so.

“Baby.” Jeonghan insisted, reaching out to him.

Wonwoo didn’t look up, but at least he accepted the offered hand and let Jeonghan guide him inside.

Luckily Seungkwan had clung to him as soon as he had picked him up, and Wonwoo kept a tight hold on his hand, so Jeonghan allowed himself to relax, knowing that as long as their babies were right here, he could comfort them.

As soon as they made it inside the house, he decided to set Seungkwan on the kitchen counter, so he could examine his wound better and signalled Wonwoo to sit on a chair just next to them, since he was getting worryingly pale.

Seungkwan’s crying had subdued, but even when Jeonghan had tried to set him down, Seungkwan kept clinging to him, arms wrapped tight around his neck. Jeonghan rubbed his back gently, pressing a kiss on his, by now, feverish cheek.

“Oh, baby, it’s okay. Does it hurt too bad?” Jeonghan asked, figuring that maybe Seungkwan was just scared, or embarrassed.

Or both.

Seungkwan sniffled, nodding as he tried to wipe at his tears with his sleeve.

“You know what we do when we get a wound like this?” Jeonghan asked, of course Seungkwan didn’t know, because he had only been here for a few months. But he wanted to distract him, and it seemed to be working. “Wonwoo-hyung, why don’t you tell Seungkwannie?”

He didn’t want Wonwoo to feel left out, especially when he was feeling guilty about it.

Wonwoo licked his lips, Jeonghan didn’t know when, but the boy had stopped crying, and he looked at Seungkwan, trying a smile for him.

His boy was being so brave, trying to reassure his baby brother, Jeonghan needed to praise him on that later.

“Appa will kiss it better and then it won’t hurt anymore.” He said wisely.

Seungkwan blinked up at him, clearly curious about the whole thing and he finally pulled back enough so Jeonghan could set him down on the counter.

Before he could do it, Seungcheol came to the kitchen, looking like he had just ran a marathon. 

“Sorry, I couldn’t find the first aid kit and then I _finally_ did, but it didn’t have plasters so I found this—”

“It’s okay, Cheol.” Jeonghan assured him. “We’ve figured it all out.”

Seungcheol frowned, not knowing what they meant, but then Jeonghan leaned down enough to press a kiss just above Seungkwan’s wound and the boy inhaled sharply, relaxing when Jeonghan pulled back.

“Did it work?” Jeonghan asked, with a surprised look, as if he wasn’t sure himself.

Seungkwan had his mouth hanging open and he nodded slowly.

“Appa you have to kiss it too.” Wonwoo commented to Seungcheol, tone soft to avoid disturbing Seungkwan now that he seemed less upset than before.

“Come on, appa, kiss it better.” Jeonghan agreed with a smirk.

Seungcheol looked back at them with a serious look and nodded solemnly.

He wrapped an arm around Jeonghan’s waist and pressed a firm kiss against his lips. They got an _ew_ in response (Seungkwan) and one surprised gasp (Wonwoo).

“Not _me,_  you dummy.” Jeonghan scolded, although his cheeks had gone red anyway (totally Seungcheol’s intention).

“Oh, right.” Seungcheol said cheekily, as if he didn’t know. He leaned over Seungkwan and pressed a kiss on his knee, just above his wound.

Seungkwan rubbed at his eyes, breathing still a bit heavy from trying to hold back tears, and Seungcheol squeezed his hand gently, placing a kiss on his cheek and then his nose, until he started giggling in delight.

“All better now.” Seungcheol gushed as he pinched Seungkwan’s cheek.

Jeonghan finally started to clean out the wound and disinfecting it, taking advantage of the fact that Seungkwan was distracted with Seungcheol’s antics. Luckily it didn’t take long, he had cleaned off the blood and he had put on some band aids (with pandas on them) on his knee and Seungkwan had stop crying altogether.

Which meant only one of their boys was left.

Jeonghan only gave Seungcheol one look and his husband understood right away, nodding and mouthing that he’d take care of it.

“You sure you’re okay Seungkwannie?” Wonwoo asked, eyes shiny with tears.

Seungkwan sniffled pitifully, but nodded, trying to be brave now that the whole ordeal was over.

“I’m… I’m okay, hyung.” He said, smiling weakly at him, probably tired from all the crying.

“Jeonghannie,” Seungcheol commented casually. “I don’t think we kissed it _all_ better, did we?”

Jeonghan crossed his arms against his chest, shaking his head.

“Yeah, you’re right. I think we missed one right here,” Seungcheol said, leaning down to press a kiss to Wonwoo’s head.

Wonwoo blinked up at them, surprised and confused at the same time. Seungkwan seemed interested too, following the interaction closely.

“Why did you kiss my head? I didn’t get hurt.” Wonwoo asked shyly, touching where Seungcheol had kissed. He had gone a bit red, just like he always did when he got praised.

“So you don’t think badly of yourself, you’re a great hyung.” Seungcheol assured him, smiling at him.

“Oh.” Wonwoo whispered, getting even redder.

“Appa, that was _so_ cheesy!” Seungkwan claimed, like it offended him, he had covered his face too, as if he didn’t want to see.

“I think it was pretty cool.” Jeonghan commented, watching Seungcheol with a fond smile. It had been Seungcheol’s idea, he had only played along… but still, he was amazed by how well Seungcheol could handle it sometimes.

He was a dork, but he loved him _so_ much.

“Yeah,” Wonwoo whispered, smiling softly, eyes fixed on Seungcheol as well. “Me too.”

***

“Here he is, my baby.” Jeonghan gushed, picking up Chan and smothering his face with kisses.

Soonyoung had dropped him off like five minutes ago, but he still felt like he needed to give him more love.

Chan giggled, delighted and then started dodging them, planting his little hands on Jeonghan’s cheeks to pull him away with a whiny _appa_.

“I’m not a baby.” Chan said, like it offended him.

“Ah, I’ve lost my babies, they’re so big now, they don’t want to be called babies, what am I going to do?” Jeonghan said with a dramatic sigh.

“You can still call me baby.” Seungkwan said from his side, smiling.

“Awww, Seunkwannie, that’s adorable—”

“If you let me get a puppy.” He added cheekily and Jeonghan pouted.

He had not raised his kids to be like that.

“What a cheat.” He said, without heat, Seungkwan only laughed in response. 

Jeonghan finally set Chan down and took a deep breath, everything seemed more like under control now that he had talked to Wonwoo and after Seungkwan had left that message for his brother.

He actually felt calmer, knowing that somehow, Wonwoo would be okay after this, they’d find a way to figure it out.

“Come on, boys. Get ready for dinner.” Jeonghan said, looking at Seungkwan and Chan. “Appa’s going to be late today, so we can’t wait him up, and by _we_ I mean you Seungkwannie, tomorrow’s school day and you need to sleep, okay?”

Seungkwan wrapped his arms against his chest, pouting cutely, and Jeonghan almost fell for it, _almost_.

“Go call Wonwoo-hyung for me too, okay? You can all help me set the table.”

Once all of their boys were getting ready for dinner, he finally was able to do one of the things he had been dreading to do today.

He dialed Seungcheol’s number.

Of course, he answered right away, and Jeonghan felt a little guilty for not calling him earlier, he knew he must have been worried.

He just didn't know  _when_ , first he was with the Principal, then in the car, then talking to Wonwoo... 

“Hi, baby.” Jeonghan said softly.

“ _Jeonghannie, is everything okay?_ ” Seungcheol sounded breathless, and Jeonghan felt like crying right away, wishing that he was here with him. “ _What happened with Wonnie?_ ”

Jeonghan told him what he knew, considering he didn’t have much details, and then he waited, because Seungcheol had gone silent and he had no idea what was he thinking.

“ _I wish I could be there_ ,” Seungcheol said in the end. “ _Is he okay_? _Are you?_ ”

The last question made him think, was Wonwoo okay? Most definitely not. Would he be okay? Probably yes. Was Jeonghan okay?

He took a deep shaky breath, covering his face.

“I don’t know.” He said, rubbing at his eyes. “I know you have to work late today, Cheol, but _please—_ ”

“ _I’ll be there as soon as I can, I promise, baby."_  Seungcheol assured him, before he could finish. “ _You don’t need to worry, I love you and I’ll be there soon._ ”

Jeonghan allowed himself to breathe after that, relaxing with Seungcheol’s words. He knew his husband meant them and that was enough to ease down his anxiety. 

He finally had to say goodbye to Seungcheol quickly after that, not wanting to give him any troubles at work.

He only needed to hold the fort a little longer, he could do that. 

Jeonghan took a deep breath, pulled himself together and focused on dinner.

Meanwhile in the living room, Chan and Seungkwan were patiently waiting for Wonwoo to show up, who had told them he’d be downstairs _right away,_  but apparently it hadn't been an accurate response, because fifteen minutes had passed and there was no sight of Wonwoo. 

What they didn't know it's that it took that amount of time for Wonwoo to gather the courage and finally get out of his room and head where his little brothers were.

He didn’t want to explain them what had happened, he didn’t want them to be disappointed.

Wonwoo was actually scared that they might admire him less because of this. He had always tried to be a good hyung for them, but now he had fucked up... 

He told himself that it was important to admit when he was wrong and that was a valuable lesson on itself (that's what Seungcheol had said once anyway).

But as long as he appeared on the living room, Chan toddled his way to him, wrapping arms and legs around him (easing down half of his worries already), until Wonwoo picked him up.

“Hyung,” Chan said, literally climbing on Wonwoo’s lean frame to fit himself against him. “Appa said that when you’re sad, hugs make it better.”  

Wonwoo hugged Chan back, relaxing ever so slightly with his presence. 

He never said he was sad, but he guessed it was pretty obvious, even for a four year old. 

He was actually glad that they weren't asking questions, they were just being there for him and honestly... he couldn't be more grateful. 

So when his eyes landed on Seungkwan, he noticed the small shy smile that he had. 

He knew exactly why. 

"Seungkwannie, thank you for—" _the message and the bag and the candies and for... wanting to help._

"Don't worry, hyung." Seungkwan said, with a smile, much more confident looking this time. "We've got your back."

Wonwoo tried really hard not to cry because he hand't realized how much he needed to hear that until Seungkwan had said it.  

" _Okay_."

When Jeonghan came back to the living room to let them know dinner was ready, he saw all his boys cuddling in the couch, Wonwoo wrapping his arms protectively around Chan so he wouldn’t roll over, and Seungkwan leaning on his side, drooling all over Wonwoo’s shoulder.

Not only he snapped a photo and sent it to Seungcheol (tearing up in the process, but it’d be his little secret), he also decided dinner could wait a little longer.

***

“A _baby_!” Seungkwan claimed, impressed for the tenth time today.

Of course Jeonghan and Seungcheol had already told them Chan would come, but still Seungkwan seemed blissfully innocent.

Besides it had been a month, Jeonghan didn’t know why he was so surprised anymore.

But it was still adorable, so he let it be.

“I get it, Seungkwannie.” Jeonghan commented gently, smiling at him.

“ _Appa._ ” Seungkwan said excitedly. “I’m not sure you do. He’s _so_ cute.”

Jeonghan and Seungcheol had settled a little playpen on their living room ever since Chan had arrived and one of the kids most favorite activities these days was to sit there and have Wonwoo-hyung read them a story.

Chan was two, and he was a bit behind on language development, but he was still young, so Seungcheol and Jeonghan didn’t pressure him on it, wanting him to learn at his own pace. And they knew one of the things that helped the most was Wonwoo taking the role of storyteller and sometimes reading (sometimes inventing) tales to his youngest brother.

Jeonghan tried not to coo out loud every time he saw it happening.

Wonwoo had been picking out (in silence) a book to read to them today, and Seungkwan had decided that today’s mission (as he liked to call it) was to make Chan say his name.

Chan only sat on the playpen, chewing on some poor stuffed otter’s arm, blissfully ignorant of his brother’s plan.

Jeonghan observed it all from the kitchen counter, waiting to intervene if Seungkwan insisted too much. He knew he should be helping Seungcheol with lunch, but honestly he couldn’t bring himself to do it, not when all three of their babies looked so cute together like that.

He should probably take a photo.

Wonwoo kept sitting down in front of the little shelf they had put in the living room, filled with children books, humming as he tried to pick one for today.

Seungkwan entered the playpen and sat in front of Chan, pointing at himself.

“Seung—kwan,” He pronounced, as clearly as he could. When he had done it more than five times, he whined. “Come on, _Channie_. It’s not that hard.”

He picked up a small board and wrote it down, showing it to his younger brother.

“Seung. Kwan.” He repeated, Chan only clapped happily in response. Seungkwan’s pout intensified and he turned towards Jeonghan, on the verge of crying. “Appa, he won’t say my name.”

“Sorry, baby,” Jeonghan was ready to comfort him, since he had been watching the scene from afar. “Not all kids learn that fast, he’s only been here for a month.”

“Yes, but I’ve been telling him _my_ name everyday!” Seungkwan whined. “And he says _appa_ all the time, why not my name?”

Since this had been a peaceful Saturday and he wanted to avoid a tantrum before it could happen, Jeonghan decided to walk towards the living room and ruffle his son’s hair, smiling gently at him.

“Okay, but don’t pressure him, sweetie.” Jeonghan asked him, pinching his cheek softly to distract him. “He’ll do it eventually.”

“Fine,” Seungkwan mumbled, although he still didn’t sound fully convinced.

“Thank you for understanding, baby.” Jeonghan said, strapping the baby monitor to his waist even though he was only going to be a few meters away, on the kitchen to ask Seungcheol if he needed any help with making lunch.

As soon as he was alone, Seungkwan decided to try one last time, that certainly didn’t count as pressuring him, right?

“Seungkwan-hyung.” He instructed softly, staring at Chan’s innocent eyes. “Or maybe just hyung.”

Chan only blinked on response.

“Come on,” Seungkwan whined. “Seungkwan, Channie, can you say that?”

“Okay.” Wonwoo said, interrupting the interaction between his two younger brothers. He stepped inside the playpen, carefully avoiding all the toys so he wouldn’t trip and finally sitting down with a book on his lap. “I chose one.”

“Hyung, we can’t read today.” Seungkwan said dramatically. “I’m on a special _mission._ ”

Wonwoo was in his own little world as he chose the book so he frowned, not understanding what Seungkwan meant.

“But we always read on Saturdays.” He commented, with a small pout, because he knew Chan adored to listen to stories coming from him or Jeonghan and Seungcheol.

“Yeah, but hyung, this is more important.”

Wonwoo sighed, eyes fixing on Chan’s, not knowing what to do.

“Seungkwannie,” He started patiently. “I think appa said that we shouldn’t pressure Channie to speak.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t say anything, and I want him to say my name.” Seungkwan whined, crossing his arms against his chest.

“I know, but—”

“Wonu.” Chan pointed at the book on Wonwoo’s lap, effectively interrupting their conversation.

Both of them went very _very_ silent.

“What did you just say?” Seungkwan asked, in case he hadn’t heard correctly.

Wonwoo just sat there, dumbfounded, looking from Seungkwan to Chan.

Chan let go of the stuffed otter he had been chewing on and placed a chubby hand on Wonwoo’s lap, over the book.

“Wonu,” He repeated again, intently.

“APPA.” Seungkwan, who tended to react first, gasped and then literally ran towards the kitchen. “He did the thing!”

When they were alone, Wonwoo still didn’t snap out of it, just kept looking at his baby brother.

“Wonu.” Chan mumbled, with a small laugh at the reaction he had caused and since Wonwoo still didn’t know what to do, he slowly settled the book down, and pulled Chan to his lap, hugging him close.

He had never thought he’d ever have a family. And not only had two parents, he had two younger brothers too. And he could read them stories and help them tie their shoelaces and protect them from bad things (like monsters under their beds).

How did he get so lucky?

***

When Seungcheol arrived that night, he already knew all the kids would be asleep. It was almost one am and he was _exhausted_. Luckily he managed to finish the last edit on this project he had been working and he wouldn’t need to stay this late in weeks.

He hated not being able to say goodnight to their babies in person.

Specially today, considering what had happened with Wonwoo.

He kept rubbing his eyes as he walked through the hallway, missing the lights on Wonwoo’s bedroom. The door opened in a second and there were arms around his waist and Seungcheol’s bag fell to the ground with a loud thud.

“Wonnie?” He asked, the kid was burying his head to Seungcheol’s chest and his hands were shaking as he held him close, Seungcheol snapped out of it, wrapping his arm around him and rubbing his back, worry sweeping through his bones.

He thought that Jeonghan had already talked to him, then why did Wonwoo seem so upset? And why was he up this late?

“Appa,” He whispered, eyes glassy with tears when he looked up at him. “You wouldn’t… be mad at me, would you? You wouldn’t hate me?”

Seungcheol’s heart actually broke at that, how could his baby ever think something like that?

“Wonnie… I’m not mad at you, I could _never_ hate you. And we need to talk about what happened, but it’s so late,” Seungcheol replied weakly, not wanting to say no to that face. He really wanted to know what the hell had made his boy look _like that,_  but he didn’t know if this was a good time to ask for details.

It was late and both Wonwoo and Seungcheol were exhausted, it wasn’t a great idea.

Wonwoo sniffled, fingers squeezing the fabric of his jacket tight, not willing to let him go.

“Can we talk now? _Please.”_

Seungcheol caressed his hair and pressed a kiss on the top of Wonwoo’s head, trying to calm his rapid beating heart and to think what should he do. He loved this kid, he would do anything for him.

Even though it was late, he just couldn’t send him off to bed when he was this upset about something.

He’d do _anything_ to make him feel better.

“Okay,” He agreed and Wonwoo hugged him even tighter, probably thanking him for it.

Seungcheol guided him towards his bedroom, closing the door behind them so neither the light nor the noise would wake up his younger brothers.

“It’s okay, baby. We’ll talk about it now.” He assured him, rubbing his back. “Come on, how about we go to bed and talk from there? You look tired.”

Wonwoo nodded slowly, heading to his bed. Seungcheol turned off the lights, hoping it’d manage to lull Wonwoo to sleep while they talked and turned on his desk lamp, laying next to the boy and wrapping an arm around his shoulders so he could cuddle against his chest.

He immediately did.

So Seungcheol waited.

His eyes fixed on the ceiling as he rubbed up and down Wonwoo’s arm to calm him down, until he dared to speak.

“Appa.”

There it was.

“Yeah?”

“I…” A small halt in his breathing. “I hit someone.”

“I know.” Seungcheol replied, not stopping his caress on Wonwoo’s arm. He figured it would be easier to talk this way, so his son wouldn’t have to look at him in the eye.

He was clearly too conflicted already.

“Are you mad?”

“No.”

“Disappointed?”

“No.”

Wonwoo didn’t relax, he just shuffled even closer and it faintly reminded Seungcheol of when he was much younger and he was afraid of storms.

Now he was twelve and suddenly he had gotten so big, so mature. And maybe he was treating him like a child by solving this the way he was doing it, but he couldn’t treat him badly, he just didn’t find it in himself to be severe with him.

“What do you feel?” Wonwoo asked then and Seungcheol took a deep breath, trying to think his next words carefully.

“I wish… you hadn’t done that, just that. If a classmate was bothering you, you should have called someone else and ask for help, okay?” Seungcheol said but it sounded weak even to his own ears.

Wonwoo only hummed in response, not sounding very convinced.

“I just… I just want to know what happened for you to react like that.” He asked gently, hoping to get a reply. He had no idea if Jeonghan already knew this and he didn’t want to pressure Wonwoo, but it was important to know, because it’d give him some idea of what to do later.

“I brought… my game, the Mario Kart one.” Wonwoo started. “I was showing it to Minhyun.”

Seungcheol found himself reaching out to take Wonwoo’s hand, squeezing gently in encouragement when the boy stopped speaking.

“I wasn’t doing anything wrong, I just wanted to show him the game and then… then Minsoo came and he kept saying how stupid it was and how much of a nerd I was and… I don’t know, it made me mad.” Seungcheol wondered if that’s when it had happened, but he didn’t ask, he wanted Wonwoo to tell him. “But I didn’t do anything, and then… he pushed me, and I dropped the game, when I tried to get it back though, he stomped it.”

Wonwoo’s eyes were filling with tears, hands shaky as he spoke. Seungcheol’s heart squeezed painfully, knowing what came next.

“He told me I could always glue the pieces together and… I was on the floor and he kept saying things, he always does but I ignore him, I swear I do, but then… he tried to make me stand up and I panicked… then I hit him.” He said, sounding like he was trying to keep it together. “I didn’t mean to, appa, but I did— I really _loved_ that game, what am I going to do without it? I don’t know if I have something as important as that. I don’t know if I can just forgive him for breaking it.”

For breaking the game, not for hurting him.

Seungcheol pulled him close, for a kid who kept even the wrapping of the gifts he received all the time, of course it was hard to lose something important.

Wonwoo cherished every little thing that meant family, and Seungcheol couldn’t say he didn’t feel sad that what the game represented was _them,_  their relationship.

He still remembered when they had played for the first time and it was by all means, Wonwoo’s favorite game until this day.

“It’s okay, bud.” Seungcheol assured him and Wonwoo couldn’t stop himself and started crying. Seungcheol’s eyes got teary as well, as he tried to comfort him, rubbing his back gently.

He knew how Wonwoo would find it in himself to feel extremely guilty about things like these, but Seungcheol didn’t want him to. He had made a mistake, he knew he had, and he was hurting, that was okay. He wouldn’t force to feel something he didn’t and well, if that kid had been bothering him, then Seungcheol thought that he owed an apology to his kid too.

It was a long time until Wonwoo started to calm down, and a wet patch had formed in Seungcheol’s jacket, but he couldn’t care less, at least Wonwoo was taking it out of his system.

“I did, you know. Punched someone too.” Seungcheol commented quietly. “It was a long time ago though.”

“Do you regret it?”

That was a tricky one, and since Wonwoo was being honest, he knew it wouldn’t be okay to lie.

“Not really,” He said, and immediately added. “But doesn’t mean it was a nice thing to do.”

Wonwoo took a deep shaky breath, but he sounded calmer than before and it relaxed Seungcheol too.

“Why did you do it?” He asked curiously.

Seungcheol smiled at the memory, but decided it wasn’t the right time.

“Let’s save that story for another time, okay?”

“Okay.” Wonwoo agreed quietly. “Thank you for telling me that. I love you.”

“I love you too, bud.” Seungcheol said, patting his back gently. “How about if you go to sleep? I’ll stay with you until you do.” Seungcheol whispered, rubbing Wonwoo’s arm gently so he’d relax enough to do so.

It only took five minutes or so for Wonwoo to fall asleep, but Seungcheol stayed more than half an hour, just wanting to make sure his son was safe and fearing the times when he wouldn’t be around to protect him if he wasn’t.

***

They weren’t there.

Wonwoo stood up at the entrance, eyes fixed on the street, but neither Seungcheol or Jeonghan were there.

He knew what time it was. It was just four pm. And eighteen minutes.

The thing was… he could remember that in the six months that he had been adopted, Jeonghan and Seungcheol have never been _this_ late. Not without letting him know beforehand.

He had imagined what he would do if they didn’t arrive, he had thought that he’d cry. Or get angry.

But instead of it he didn’t feel a thing, if anything he felt a tiny bit hopeful that maybe they’d arrive.

Jeonghan and Seungcheol had told him a millionth of times that they’d be there, _always,_  and Wonwoo believed them.

It had taken some time, but he did believe them.

Now from the way his heart was starting to beat faster and his eyes started to fill with tears he wondered if he _should_ believe them. This had happened before. Just once. But still.

What if they had forgotten about him? Or _worse_ , what if they had gotten bored of him? What if they didn’t want him anymore?

He was burying his head in his bag when he heard the distinct sound of footsteps, he didn’t look up, not until the sound grew closer and he noticed they were coming his way.

Wonwoo slowly looked up, his eyes meeting with a familiar face.

“Uncle Jihoon?” Wonwoo asked, standing up as he hugged his bag against his chest. Only the sight of him managed to calm him down, maybe they hadn’t forgotten about him, maybe they were just late and they had sent someone else, maye they still wanted him.

He was _so_ happy to see Uncle Jihoon.

“I never thought I’d arrive first,” Jihoon commented with a small frown, looking around. Wonwoo didn’t understand why he said that, but he walked towards him, trying not to drop his bag when he got up so quickly. Jihoon pocketed his phone and gave him a warm smile once he was standing in front of him. “Wonwoo, how was school?”

Wonwoo’s eyes literally _sparkled_ when he was able to make sure he was actually him. And he couldn’t resist himself and hugged him (dropping his bag on the process).

Jihoon barely managed to catch him in his arms, and he hugged him back, noticing he needed it.

“Wonwoo, it’s okay, I—”

“Hyung, what are _you_ doing here?” Came someone’s voice and Wonwoo pulled back, recognizing the owner of it. He turned to see Mingyu jogging towards them, a frown in his features.

“What do you mean what _I’m_ doing here?”

Wonwoo stood there, confused, looking from Mingyu to Jihoon. He knew it was weird that the two of them were here (he spent a lot of time on their respective houses, but they had never _ever_ picked him up from school), but he was glad.

“Wonwoo, I’m here! You don’t need to worry anymore!” _Another_ voice said and this time Wonwoo knew who it was right away.

Uncle Soonyoung.

(Besides, only Uncle Soonyoung would say something _that_ embarrassing out loud).

Soonyoung appeared in the scene not long after, and the three adults found themselves looking at each other with confused expressions on their faces.

“Hi Wonwoo!” Soonyoung said, ruffling on his hair before turning his attention to Mingyu and Jihoon. “What are you guys doing here?”

“What are _you_ doing here?” Mingyu asked, crossing his arms against his chest.

“Well, yeah, hyung sent that message and he sounded like he was freaking out and—”

Wonwoo was still trying to figure out what was going on, when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he almost flinched, but when he noticed who it was from, he relaxed, smiling up at Minghao.

“You know, I could hear you fighting from the parking lot, can you just chill?” He commented, wrapping an arm around Wonwoo’s shoulders. “You’re making a scene in front of the school.”

“Oh my God, _you too_?” Jihoon asked, with a groan.

" _Hey!_ What's with that kind of reaction?" 

“Calm down, Gyu. I didn’t mean it like that.” Jihoon said, rolling his eyes. “I mean, why is it that the four of us are here to pick him up? Surely something must have happened.”

“How was I supposed to know?” Soonyoung whined. “Hyung told _me_ to come. He said it was urgent.”

“I think hyung told us _all_ to come, so one of us would make it here first.” Minghao commented, with a small shrug, clearly unbothered by the whole situation, Wonwoo shuffled closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist.

He had no idea what they were doing here, but he was so glad they were.

“That makes sense,” Jihoon commented, and got a collective hum of agreement in response.

They were all pulled out of his thoughts when they heard a set of footsteps quickly coming their way.

Wonwoo didn’t know _why_ but he pulled away from Minghao, trying to make out the figures that were approaching to them.

It was Jeonghan.

Wonwoo hadn’t felt like crying while his uncles were here, but now that he saw Jeonghan approaching with tears rolling down his cheeks and literally running towards him, he felt like he’d bawl his eyes out any moment now.

When Jeonghan got there, all of them noticed how distressed he looked and it was enough to shut them all up.

It was even more worrying that Jeonghan stood there, as if he didn’t know if he should approach Wonwoo or not.

Seungcheol came jogging behind him (Jeonghan could be fast when he wanted to) and caught his breath, giving all of the adults a puzzled look, but focusing mostly on Wonwoo who stood there, in the middle of them.

At the sight of _both_ of his parents, Wonwoo couldn’t stop himself any further.

“Appa,” Wonwoo mumbled, voice wobbling and Seungcheol stepped forward as the kid threw himself at him.

Seungcheol easily picked him up, Jeonghan finally snapped out of it and wrapped an arm around them as well, all three of them hugging each other tight.

“We’re so sorry, baby.” Jeonghan said, choking on his words.

“It’s okay,” Wonwoo assured them, clinging to Seungcheol, tears kept rolling down his cheeks and he wasn’t mad, he really wasn’t, but he just couldn’t stop himself from crying.

He hated to see Jeonghan and Seungcheol upset.

“You have every right to be mad, Wonwoo.” Seungcheol said this time, muffled against Wonwoo’s shoulder. “We made a promise and we—”

“I’m not mad, appa, I—” Wonwoo insisted, wishing he could explain what he felt, but he didn’t have the words, he felt too emotional.

“It’s okay to be sad or disappointed too, we—”

“I’m not, appa.” Wonwoo insisted, and he pulled back enough to look at Seungcheol in the eye.

Seungcheol must have caught the way Wonwoo said that and he set him down, fixing on his clothes and holding his hand, willing to listen about what he had to say. Jeonghan knelt down too, so he’d be able to look at him properly and he held Wonwoo’s other hand.

Both Seungcheol and Jeonghan were still crying and the sight of it made Wonwoo very upset, but he swallowed it just enough to speak the next words.

“You… you promised someone would be waiting for me… and you came. You all did. I’m not mad… I’m… just… _thank you_.” Wonwoo couldn’t help but tear up during the process anyway, hugging Jeonghan this time and reaching out to take Seungcheol’s hand.

“It seems like everything’s okay! I say we go eat some barbecue!” Soonyoung said, effectively reminding them that they had been standing here the whole time. Wonwoo couldn’t help but smile, as Seungcheol wiped at his cheeks, cleaning his tear streaked face. “Cheol-hyung’s treat!”

All of them cheered in response and Seungcheol looked at his son, who happily stared at his uncles and Jeonghan, who was still crying, but now from happiness and… he didn’t find it in himself to complain.

This was just perfect the way it was.

***

“It was _the_ longest day, today.”

“You tell me.” Jeonghan commented, around a mouthful of his favorite pillow. He didn’t even look up as he heard the footsteps coming inside the room, knowing it was Cheol.

He had actually heard him even before, when he talked to Wonwoo for an hour or so.

But Jeonghan hadn’t been able to go back to sleep, even though he was tired as hell, he only dozed off until he felt padded feet approaching to the bed.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here.” Seungcheol said, from afar, he was probably hanging his jacket, unbuttoning his shirt, if the sounds of rustling were anything to go by.

Jeonghan wanted to look up, make sure that his husband was there with them, make today _real_ , but he didn’t dare, because he had been trying to hold back tears all day long and tomorrow was a workday and he did _not_ want to cry at two am.

“It’s okay, you had to work.” Jeonghan said, turning around just to catch Seungcheol taking off his pants, standing in the middle of the room only in his boxers.

His husband _definitely_ still had it, it was a shame he was too tired.

When Seungcheol caught him staring, he gave him a shy smile, heading to the bed. This time Jeonghan did close his eyes, until he felt strong arms wrapping around his waist, pulling him close, breathing in the scent of his hair.

Taking him in.

“You too. Had to work, I mean.” Seungcheol whispered, clearly feeling guilty for letting Jeonghan handle this on his own.

Jeonghan only hummed in response, more worried in burying himself in Seungcheol’s chest, seeking his warmth.

Seungcheol decided to comply then, only holding him close.

“Can you buy him… the game?” Jeonghan asked sleepily.

“Mario?”

“Yeah, well… it’s not like a gift, he did misbehave although I still don’t understand why and maybe that kid was bothering him, if he has then I don’t know if he misbehaved at all, he’d only be defending himself. But about the game… the thing is I don’t want him _not_ to have it.” Jeonghan explained, rubbing his eyes. Seungcheol tried not to smile, because the only times Jeonghan babbled on about something was when he was sleepy or really nervous, and after all these years, he still found it adorable. “I figured if he was that upset for a game it had something to do with you.”

Oh.

Seungcheol went silent, and Jeonghan was pretty sure he knew why. Even now, after all these years, he knew Seungcheol still worried about Wonwoo loving him as he loved Jeonghan.

Jeonghan had been there first for Wonwoo.

But that didn’t mean anything, in the end, they were both equally important to Wonwoo.

“Cheol, you know he met me first and he called me _appa_ first too, but he _adores_ you. He wants to be like you.” Jeonghan said, looking up, their eyes meeting properly for the first time since Seungcheol had arrived. He caressed his cheek, smiling when he got a slight blush in return. He loved how he still managed to cause that effect on him, after all these years. “I don’t think he understood what it meant to have a role model until he met you.”

Jeonghan thought that these kind of things made Seungcheol cry, because he was really soft on the inside, and maybe he should have prepared him for it, saying something less emotional like—

“Are you finally admitting that I might be the favorite one?” Seungcheol asked, clearly amused.

“Don’t go that far.” Jeonghan scolded, pinching his cheek and it made Seungcheol laugh, shuffling closer. “Ah, there it is,” He said, sounding pleased with himself.

“The what?”

“The dimple. I love it when you smile like that, don’t lose weight ever again.”

“I like you when you’re all sleepy,” Seungcheol gushed, seeking his lips to plant a gentle kiss there. He got a _shut up_ in response, but it was worth it.

They drank each other’s presence for a few minutes, Seungcheol pressing kisses all over his lover’s face and then Jeonghan doing the same, until they lost themselves in a kiss.

“Cheol,” Jeonghan asked, when they pulled back to breathe, sounding hesitant for the first time today. Seungcheol knew him more than anyone, and he was actually pretty unsure of himself, he only tried to fake it until he made it most of the time. And it worked. “Are we doing this right?”

Seungcheol would usually reassure him right away, knowing what he meant, _this_ , kids, parenting. But tonight he had to admit he felt a little unsure too.

“I don’t know… is there? A right way?”

“I don’t know, our kid just _punched_ someone because of a game.” Jeonghan sighed, the Principal’s words were eating him alive by this point, were they actually being bad influences on Wonwoo?

He didn’t want to think in that possibility.

“Minsoo shoved him first. I think he has been bothering him for a while too.” Seungcheol commented, with a sigh.

“He has?”

“Yeah.”

“But Wonwoo said he doesn’t care. He said it’s not so bad, that he ignores him, that he **—** ”

“Doesn’t want to cause any trouble, yes, I figured.”

Jeonghan thought that would definitely mean that he’d have _another_ talk with the Principal, if this boy had been bullying his baby then certainly only punishing Wonwoo was unfair.

But they could worry about that in the morning.

“And it was a very important game.” Seungcheol added.

“It was.”

They both went silent, settling against each other as they always did. Jeonghan was resting his head on Seungcheol’s chest, arm wrapped around his waist, as Seungcheol cuddled him close, an arm draped around his shoulders.

“Today I looked at the kids... and you know, Mingyu and Soonyoung.” Jeonghan commented, voice rough and words slurring with sleep. “And I think we’ve got a great family… maybe we’re doing okay.”

Seungcheol pulled him impossibly closer, kissing the top of his head, he had no idea what had happened today, how Jeonghan handled all of it without freaking out, but he was so proud of his family, and he didn’t know what he would do if it weren’t for Jeonghan, he was the most important member of this family, keeping them all together, handling every little thing without breaking down (and if he ever did, Seungcheol would be there to catch his fall).

Jeonghan was truly amazing and he couldn’t be more grateful to have him by his side.

“Maybe?” He asked softly. “Not maybe, baby. You are, _we_ are.”

All he got in reply was a soft snore and he tried not to laugh, so he wouldn’t wake up Jeonghan.

Perhaps this meant he should try to get some sleep. He placed one last kiss on the top of his husband’s head and closed his eyes, drifting off quickly after that.

Everything else could wait until tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being SO long, thank you for making it to the end!  
> I hope you like this, and let me know which interaction was your favorite one (Soonyoung, Mingyu, or maybe Jeonghan, Seungcheol) I'm really curious!  
> (Also, english is not my first language so if there's a mistake, you can tell me and I'll fix it)

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you who wanted a Wonwoo-centric chapter, here we are! Hope you like it


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